
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelf__Ji_6. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



STUDIES IN 
AMERICAN LITERATURE 




;7V7^ yQ 



STUDIES 



IN 



American Literature 

For Academies and High Schools 



BY 



CHARLES NOBLE 

PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND RHETORIC 
IN IOWA COLLEGE 




Neto gork 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1898 

^//..v/... reserZ-"^ COPIES RECEIVED- 

2ml COPY. 

1898. 



^3^-^)^ 



S()80 

Copyright, 1898, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



ISrorfaflDli ^ress 

J. S. Gushing & Co. - Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



- iS 


^ cs- 








i^j 


^^ 



To 

PROFESSOR SELDEN L. WHITCOMB 

fHs (JTolkague in tfje tcacfjinfl of lEitglisfj 

TO WHOSE KINDLY CRITICISM AND HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS 
THIS BOOK IS DEEPLY INDEBTED 



PREFACE 

The hope that this work may find a place of use- 
fulness among our school manuals rests upon its 
method. Probably all teachers of Literature in col- 
lege have felt the embarrassment caused by the in- 
ability of the average Freshman to appreciate form 
in its relation to literary expression. The aim of 
these studies is to assist in meeting this difficulty by 
furnishing a manual for use in preparatory schools 
which shall combine the study of form with the inter- 
pretation of Literature. 

It seems reasonable that in America school work 
in Literature should begin with American authors ; 
and that hand in hand with the study of their writ- 
ings should go the study of form in prose and verse. 
Therefore selections from our best writers have been 
given, with analysis of their form and interpretation 
of their content. The selections are, of course, frag- 
mentary ; and if the use of the book leads to nothing 
further, it will not be very helpful. But these frag- 
ments, presented as they are, and studied according 
to the suggestions offered, may whet the appetite 
for wider reading and broader study. The criticism 

vii 



viii Preface 

is intended to be suggestive, and the lists of questions 
to serve as points of departure for the teacher. 

Such a book, shght as it is, is not composed without 
help from a wide variety of sources. Special obliga- 
tions are due to E. C. Stedman's "Poets of America," 
and to "The Library of American Literature," edited 
by E. C. Stedman and Ellen M. Hutchinson, to Pro- 
fessor Tyler's "History of American Literature," and 
to Professor Whitcomb's " Outlines of American Lit- 
erature." For the use of copyright material thanks 
are due and are gladly rendered to Houghton, Mifflin 
& Co., The Editor of the "Boston Pilot," Small, May- 
nard & Co., The Lothrop Publishing Co., Charles 
Scribner's Sons, Lippincott's Magazine, D. Appleton 
& Co., and E. P. Button & Co. Mr. William Evarts 
Benjamin, publisher of "The Library of American 
Literature," has courteously permitted the reproduc- 
tion of copyrighted portraits of Freneau and Mar- 
garet Fuller. To Mr. O. Reich of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
thanks are due for the portraits of Whitman and 
Edwards, and to Mr. H. W. Lanier of New York for 
the portrait of his distinguished father. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 
liNTRODUCTION = I 

Verse Form . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Prose Form 16 

PART ONE 

ORIGIN AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT 

CHAPTER I 

Period of Preparation 31 

CHAPTER II 

Period of the Later Eighteenth Century . . . -58 

Epic Verse 59 

Lyric Verse .......... 64 

The Drama .......... 67 

History and Biography. ....... 67 

^Fiction 75 

Exposition 80 

Oratory 85 

PART TWO 

PERIOD OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY 

CHAPTER III 

Verse 91 

Epic Verse .......... 92 

Lyric Verse .......... 95 

Dramatic Verse ......... 104 

ix 



X Tabic of Contents 

CHAPTER IV 

PAGE 

Verse (^Continued). Bryant and Poe io6 

\Villiam Cullen Bryant . . . . . . . .106 

Edgar Allan Poe . . . . . . . . • 115 

CHAPTER V 

Naril\tive Prose. Fiction 126 

Poe's Tales 1 26 

Other Fiction . . . . . . . . .129 

James Fenimore Cooper ....... 132 

CHAPTER VI 
Washington Irving ........ 142 

Study of Rip Van Winkle . . . . . , -151 

CHAPTER VII 
Biography. History. The Essay. Or-\tory . . . 159 
Biography and History . . . . . . . -159 

Exposition .......... 162 

Oratory with Study of Daniel Webster 165 

PART THREE 

PERIOD OF THE LATER XLXETEEXTH CENTURY 

CHAPTER VIII 

Introduction. Social Facts and Forces . . . -177 



CHAPTER IX 

Verse. The New England Poets . 

Ralph Waldo Emerson . . . . 

Ohver Wendell Holmes 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

James Russell Lowell . . - 

John Greenleaf Whittier 

Other Poets of New England 



187 
187 

195 
206 

223 

236 

247 



Table of Contents xi 



CHAPTER X 

PAGE 

Verse {Continued) 253 

Walt Whitman 253 

Poets of New York 258 

Poets of the Southern States 266 

Sidney Lanier ......... 268 

Poets of Pennsylvania ........ 277 

Poets of the Western States ....... 281 

Epic Verse .......... 284 

Dramatic Verse 285 

CHAPTER XI 

Narrative Prose 287 

Fiction 287 

Nathaniel Hawthorne . . . ... . . . 288 

History and Biography ........ 307 



CHAPTER XII 

Prose. Exposition 314 

The Transcendentalists. . . . . . . . 314 

Other Philosophical and Religious Essayists .... 325 

George William Curtis ........ 326 

Humorists .......... 328 

Criticism .......... 329 

CHAPTER XIII 

Oratory , , 340 

Pulpit Oratory ......... 340 

Political Oratory .......„, 345 

Abraham Lincoln ......,,, 348 



Xll 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER XIV 



The Last Twenty Years 










354 


Verse 










355 


Dialect Verse .... 










356 


Nature Verse. French Forms 










357 


Fiction. Realism 










358 


Dialect Fiction and Local Studies 










361 


Romance 










365 


Humorists 










365 


The Drama. History . 










366 


Exposition. Criticism . 










367 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Title-page of Smith's General History of Virginia 

Portrait of Jonathan Edwards 

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin . 

Portrait of Philip Freneau . 

Portrait of Fitz-Greene IIalleck 

Portrait of William Cullen Bryant . 

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe 

Portrait of James Fenimore Cooper 

Portrait of Washington Irving . 

Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Portrait of Oliver Wendell Holimes . 

Portrait of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

Portrait of James Russell Lowell 

Portrait of John Greenleaf Whittier 

Portrait of Walt Whitman . 

Portrait of Sidney Lanier . 

Portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne 

Portrait of John Lothrop Motley 

Portrait of Henry David Thoreau 

Portrait of Margaret Fuller Ossoli . 



31 
51 

58 

65 

91 

106 

115 
126 

142 

187 

195 

206 

223 
236 

253 
268 
287 
309 
314 
322 



LIST OF WORKS ON AMERICAN 
LITERATURE 

This list has been compiled with the assistance of Mr. R. W. 
Coues of Harvard University. It makes no claim to complete- 
ness ; but is designed to include works in English of a general 
character which may be useful to teachers. No biographies of 
individual authors or critical studies of single works are named. 

\< Adams, 0. F., Dictionary of American Authors. Houghton, 

Mifflin & Co., 1897. 
'Allibone, Critical Dictionary of British and American Authors. 

J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858-71. 
Bates, Katharine Lee, American Literature. The Macmillan Co., 

1898. 
Beers, H. A., Century of American Literature. Henry Holt, 

1878. 
Initial Studies in American Letters. Flood & Vincent 

(Chautauqua Press), 1875. 
Outline Sketch of American Literature. Phillips & Hunt, 

1887. 
Bolton, Sarah K., Famous American Authors. T. Y. Crowell, 

1887. 
Cheney, J. V., That Dome in Air; Thoughts on Poets and 

Poetry. A C. McClurg & Co., 1895. 
Coggeshall, William T., The Poets and Poetry of the West. 

Follett, Foster & Co., 1864. 
Duyckinck, E. A. and G. L., Cyclopaedia of American Literature. 

Edited by M. L. Simons Wm. Rutter & Co , 1888. 
Eggleston, G. C, American War Ballads and Lyrics. G. P. 

Putnam's Sons, 1889. 
Fields, A., Authors and Friends. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 

1896. 
Gilder, J. L., Authors at Home. Cassell & Co., il 

XV 



xvi List of Works 07i America^i Literature 

Gilmore, J. H., American Poetry (Syllabus 53). University Ex- 
tension Department. Regents of the University of the 
State of New York, Albany, 1895. 
Griswold, R. W., Curiosities of American Literature in I. Dis- 
raeli — The Literary Character. World Publishing House, 
New York. 

Female Poets of America. J. Miller, New York. 

Poets and Poetry of America. J. Miller, New York, 1873. 

Prose Writers of America. Porter & Coates, 1870. 

Hart, J. S., A Manual of American Literature. Eldredge & 

Brother, Philadelphia, 1878. 
Short Course in American and English Literature. 

Eldredge, Philadelphia, 1876. 
Haweis, American Humorists. Chatto & Windus, London, 1883. 
Hawthorne, Julian, and Lemmon, Leonard, American Literature. 

D. C. Heath & Co., 1893. 
Higginson, T. W., Short Studies of American Authors. Lee & 

Shepard, 1888. 
^ Hodgkins, L. M., Guide to the Study of Nineteenth Century 

Authors. D. C. Heath & Co., 1889. 
Hutton, Laurence, Curiosities of the American Stage, 1890. 
Lodge, H. C, English Colonies in America. Harper & Brothers, 

1881. 
Lowell, J. R., A Fable for Critics. (Edition with portraits of 

authors.) Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1891. 
Manly, Louise, Southern Literature. Johnson PubUshing Co., 

Richmond, Va., 1895. 
Matthews, Brander, Introduction to American Literature. Amer- 
ican Book Co , 1896. 
Mitchell, D. G., American Lands and Letters. Charles Scrib- 

ner's Sons, 1897. 
Morris, C, Half Hours with the Best American Authors. J. B. 

Lippincott & Co., 1887. 
Nichol, John, American Literature, A. & C. Black, Edinburgh, 

1882. 
Tables of European Literature and Art ; and of American 

History, Literature, and Art. J. Maclehose & Sons, 

Glasgow, 1884. 
Pancoast, H. S., Introduction to American Literature. Henry 

Holt & Co., 1897. 



List of Works on American Literature xvii 

Painter, F. V. N., Introduction to American Literature. Leach, 
Shewell, & Sanborn, 1897. 

Pattee, F. L., A History of American Literature. Silver, Burdett 
& Co., 1896. 

A Reading Course in American Literature. 

Richardson, C. F., A Primer of American Literature. Houghton, 
Miftiin& Co., 1897. 

American Literature. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1891. 

Rideing, W. H., Boyhood of Famous Authors. T. Y. Crowell^ 
1897. 

Roe, A. S., American Authors and their Birthdays (Programmes 
and suggestions for the celebration of the birth of 
authors). Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

Scudder, H. E., Literature in School. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
1897. 

Men and Letters. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1889. 

(Editor) American Poetry. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 

1897. 

(Editor) American Prose. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1897. 

Simonds, A. B., American Song. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894. 

Smith, Huntington, A Century of American Literature. T. Y. 
Crowell & Co., 1889. 

Smith, C. 0., Synopsis of English and American Literature. 
Ginn & Co., 1890. 

Stedman, E. C, Poets of America. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
1888. 

(Editor), American Anthology {in preparatioii). Hough- 
ton, Mifflin & Co. 

and Hutchinson, E. M. (Editors), Library of American Lit- 
erature. W E Benjamin, 1887. 

Tappan, Lucy, Topical Notes on American Authors. Silver, 
Burdett & Co., 1896. 

Trimble, E. J,, Handbook of English and American Literature. 
Eldredge & Brother, Philadelphia, 1893. 

Tyler, Moses Coit, History of American Literature during Colo- 
nial Times. G. P Putnam's Sons, 1897. 

Literary History of the American Revolution. G. P. Put- 
nam's Sons, 1897. 

Three Men of Letters. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1895. 

Underhill, G. F., American Literary Epochs. 1887. 



xviii List of Works on American Literature 

Underwood, F. H., Builders of American Literature. Lee & 
Shepard, 1893. 

Vedder, H. C, American Writers of To-day. Silver, Burdett & 
Co., 1-874. 

Warner, C. D. (Editor), American Men of Letters, Series. 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

Welsh, A. H., Digest of English and American Literature. 
1890. 

Wendell, Barrett, Steligeri and other Essays concerning Amer- 
ica. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893. 

Whipple, E. P., American Literature. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
1897. 

Whitcomb, S. L., Chronological Outlines of American Litera- 
ture. The Macmillan Co , 1894. 

White, G., Sketch of the Philosophy of American Literature. 
Ginn & Co., 1891. 

American Literature, 181 5-1 833, with special reference to Ameri- 
can Magazines (Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin). 
University of Wisconsin Publication, 1898. 

Little Journeys to the Homes of American Authors. G. P. 
Putnam's Sons. 

Poems of American Patriotism. Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Twenty American 
Authors. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1897. 

Riverside Song Book (120 American poems set to standard 
music). Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

Short Studies in Literature for Schools. Eldredge & Brother, 
Philadelphia, 1883. 



STUDIES 



IN 



AMERICAN LITERATURE 



:>J«=Cc 



INTRODUCTION 

American Literature must be studied as a 
branch of English Literature. It is necessary for 
American students to make it a special object of 
study because it does not receive due consideration 
in the manuals of English Literature. But it is 
important that the student should guard against 
the mistaken notion that national independence 
implies literary contrast. Americans speak English 
with some differences from British English ; but 
if they speak correctly, they speak English. So 
American authors write English Literature with 
some differences from British writings ; but their 
writings, if Literature at all, are English Literature. 
It is of interest for us to determine whether Ameri- 
cans have made a distinct contribution to the 
great work of English writers. It may be of use 
for us to learn what is the relation of American 
writings to the great field of English Literature. 
In order to do this successfully and in order to 

B I 



2 Introduction 

appreciate intelligently the work which our best 
writers have done, we need to know something of 
the forms which English Literature took before 
American Literature began to be ; and these we now 
proceed to consider. 
Two Great ^^ Literature of which we know anything: is 

Classes ^ •' 

of Literature, divided into two great classes, called prose and 
verse. This classification, like all classification of 
living things or of the products of life, is inexact. 
Some prose has more of the qualities of verse than 
has some verse ; and there are writings, like some 
of the poems of Walt Whitman, for example, which 
it is difficult to put into either class ; just as it is 
difficult for naturalists to tell whether some living 
things are animals or vegetables. Nevertheless, the 
distinction between prose and verse is a real and 
important distinction. The words suggest one of 

Prose. the important elements of difference. Prose comes 

from the Latin prorsa, meaning straightforward. 
It is the sort of writing in which one goes straight 

Verse. on until the sentence is complete. Verse is from 

the Latin versus, a turning. It is the sort of writ- 
ing in which one turns and begins a new line at 
certain set points, according to certain rules. Ac- 
companying features of verse are alliteration, or the 
regular recurrence of the same consonant sound or 
of similar vowel sounds at the beginning of words 
or syllables; rhythm, or the regular recurrence of 
accents in such a manner as to produce a musical 
effect; and rime, or the regular recurrence of the 
same vowel sounds at the end of words or syllables 



Verse Form 3 

and usually at the end of the line. Alliteration and 
rhythm are employed in prose, but not so freely as 
in verse. Rime is never considered suitable for use 
in prose. 

Verse is so generally employed in poetry that the Poetry, 
terms are often confused. They should be carefully 
distinguished; for much good verse, like Dr. Holmes' 
famous '' One Hoss Shay," has scarcely any elements 
of poetry, and there is prose, like " Ik Marvel's " 
** Dream Life," which is essentially poetic. It is 
not easy to define poetry. It is the kind of writing 
in which the imagination predominates. It employs 
metaphor, simile, personification, and other tropes 
more freely than does prose. Poetry does not argue. 
It reports the visions of the seer. It is essentially 
creative. The poet appeals to the emotions rather 
than to the understanding. These statements charac- 
terize rather than define, and some of them might be 
reasonably disputed, but they may serve to help us 
make the necessary distinction between prose and 
poetry. 

The principal forms of prose and verse had been 
developed in English Literature before American 
Literature began to be. American writers imparted 
qualities of their own to these already established 
forms. But they have not — except in a few in- 
stances — attempted to change them or to depart 
from them. 

The forms of English verse are determined by the 
length and grouping of the lines, the kind of feet, — 
that is, combinations of accented and unaccented 



4 Introdziction 

syllables, — and the use or disuse and arrangement 
of rime. 
The Foot. A foot consists of one accented syllable with one 

or more unaccented syllables. Names have been 
given to the different kinds of feet which are some- 
what misleading, as they are borrowed from the Latin 
system of verse in which ''quantity," or length of 
vowel sound, is the essential point, whereas in Eng- 
lish verse, accent or stress is the regulating principle. 
But these names are generally employed, and there 
are no accepted substitutes for them. The foot is the 
combination of accented and unaccented syllables. 
There are five, or, according to some authorities, six 
such combinations. An accented followed by an un- 
accented syllable is a Trochee or Trochaic foot, as 
Beauty. An accented followed by two unaccented 
syllables is a Dactyl, as Joyfully. An unaccented 
followed by an accented syllable is an Iambus, as 
Before. Two unaccented syllables followed by one 
accented make an Anapest, as Serenade. An ac- 
cented syllable with unaccented before and after is 
an Amphibrach, as Alarming. Some prosodists add 
the Spondee, consisting of two accented syllables, as 
Amen. This may be put in tabular form, as follows, 
using X as the sign of the unaccented syllable and 
/ as the sign of the accented. 

Trochee / x Beauty Iambus x / Before 

Dactyl / X X Joyfully Anapest x x / Serenade 

Amphibrach x / x Alarming Spondee // Amen 

The Line. The different lines, or verses, — for, technically, a 
verse is a line, — are formed by the combination of 



Verse Form 5 

these feet, and are called by names indicating the 
number of feet. Thus if a line has two accents it is 
called Dimeter; if three, Trimeter; if four, Tetram- 
eter; if five, Pentameter; if six, Hexameter. The 
following examples of lines are all taken from 
Longfellow's poems. 

Solemnly, mournfully, Dimeter with 

Dealing its dole, Dactyl, 

The Curfew Bel] Trochee, and 
Is beginning to toll. 



Iambus. 



From the spirits on earth that adore, Anapestic 

From the souls that entreat and implore Trimeter. 

In the fervor and passion of prayer. 

Like a ring of fire around him Trochaic 

Blazed and flared the red horizon. Tetrameter. 

I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze Iambic 

With forms of saints and holy men who died. Pentameter. 

This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and th^n ^ ^^1 

the hemlocks. and 

Trochee 

These feet and lines are combined with freedom, or Spondee. 
and in almost endless variety, and by their artistic 
use all the beautiful forms of English verse are made. 
Extra accents and defective feet are sometimes used 
for emphasis and variety. 

An important matter in verse is the point where Cesura. 
the voice pauses for rest or emphasis. Usually there 
will be one principal pause within each line, and the 
point where this pause occurs is called the Cesura. 
If it occurs always at nearly the same part of the 
line, the effect is likely to be monotonous or sing- 
song. A wise arrangement of the line so that the 



IfitrodiLction 



Stychic and 
Stanzaic. 



Stychic. 



Unrimed 
Iambic 
Pentameter 
or Blank 
Verse. 

Rimed 
Iambic 
Pentameter 
or Heroic 
Verse, 

Unrimed 
Trochaic 
Tetrameter. 

Rimed 
Iambic 
Tetrameter. 



rhetorical pause shall assist the melody and variety 
of the rhythm is one of the sure indications of an 
artistic writer of verse. 

Another important distinction of form, in English 
verse, is that between Stanzaic, in which the lines are 
grouped into stanzas of various lengths and arrange- 
ment, and continuous, or, as it is sometimes called, 
" Stychic," in which the lines are written continu- 
ously with no stanza divisions. 

The Old English, or Anglo-Saxon verse is continu- 
ous, and so are most of the extended narrative, 
or descriptive, or epic poems, such as Whittier's 
" Snow-Bound," Bryant's translation of Homer, 
and others. Of this form some of the best-known 
examples are Bryant's " Thanatopsis," in unrimed 
iambic pentameter, or Blank Verse ; Longfellow's 
*' Hiawatha," in unrimed trochaic tetrameter; 
Holmes' ''Poetry, a Metrical Essay," in rimed iam- 
bic pentameter; Emerson's "Problem," in rimed 
iambic tetrameter; and Longfellow's " Evangeline," 
in a hexameter line composed largely of dactyls and 
trochees. That these distinctions may be clear, ex- 
amples of each are given. 

To him who in the love of Nature holds 
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
A various language. 

There breathes no being but has some pretence 
To that fine instinct called poetic sense. 

Farewell ! said he, Minnehaha ! 
Farewell, O my Laughing Water ! 

He builded better than he knew ; 
The conscious stone to beauty grew. 



Verse Form y 

This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and Unrimed 
the hemlocks Dactylic 

Bearded with moss and with garments green, indistinct 
in the twilight. 



Hexameter. 



The most important of these continuous forms is Blank Verse. 
that called Blank Verse. Sometimes this term is 
loosely applied to any unrimed verse ; but it should 
be confined to that form which probably Bryant has 
written with greater perfection than has any other 
American poet, the unrimed iambic pentameter. 

Stanzaic verse is that in which the lines are ar- The stanza. 
ranged in groups of varying numbers, called stanzas. 
There is the greatest conceivable variety of these 
groups. But the principal forms are named simply 
from the number of lines in each group. 

Thus, Whittier's famous poem '' Maud MuUer " is Couplet. 
written in couplets, or stanzas of two lines each. 

Ah, well ! for us all some sweet hope lies 
Deeply buried from human eyes ; 

And, in the hereafter, angels may 
Roll the stone from its grave away. 

Whittier is very fond of the Triplet, or stanza of Triplet. 

three lines. He uses it frequently with beautiful 

effect. Thus, in " Benedicite ": 

God's love and peace be with thee, where 
Soe'er this soft autumnal air 
Lifts the dark tresses of thy hair ! 

Whether through city casements comes 
Its kiss to thee, in crowded rooms, 
Or, out among the woodland blooms, 

It freshens o'er thy thoughtful face, 
Imparting, in its glad embrace. 
Beauty to beauty, grace to grace. 



8 



Introduction 



Quatrain. The stanza most frequently used is the Quatrain, 

or stanza of four lines. Most of the ballads and 
most of the familiar hymns are written in this. 
I take an example from Longfellow's " Psalm of 
Life." 

Tell me not. in mournful numbers, 

Life is but an empty dream! 
For the soul is dead that slumbers, 

And things are not what they seem. 

Life is real ! Life is earnest ! 

And the grave is not its goal ; 
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 

Was not spoken of the soul. 

Quintette. A less common, but not very unusual form is the 

Quintette, or five-line stanza. A beautiful example 
of this is found in Whittier's " Hampton Beach." 

The sunlight glitters keen and bright, 

Where, miles away. 

Lies stretching to my dazzled sight 

A luminous belt, a misty light. 

Beyond the dark pine bluffs and wastes of sandy gray. 

Sestette. The Sestette, or six-line stanza, is much more com- 

mon. Many examples are found in all the poets, and 
I take one from Longfellow's " Sandalphon." 

When I look from my window at night. 
And the welkin above is all white. 
All throbbing and panting with stars. 
Among them majestic is standing 
Sandalphon the angel, expanding 
His pinions in nebulous bars. 

Septette. The Septette, or seven-line stanza, is illustrated by 

the following from Dr. Holmes' poem "The Cham- 
bered Nautilus" : 



Verse Fonn 9 

Build thee more stately mansions, Oh my soul, 

As the swift seasons roll! 

Leave thy low vaulted past! 

Let each new temple, nobler than the last, 

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, 

Till thou at length art free, 

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea ! 

Dr. Holmes was also very fond of the Octette, or Octette, 
eight-line stanza. Take, for an example, this from 
"The Star and the Water Lily" : 

The sun stepped down from his golden throne, 

And lay in the silent sea. 
And the Lily had folded her satin leaves, 

But a sleepy thing was she ; 
What is the Lily dreaming of? 

Why crisp the waters blue? 
See, see, she is lifting her varnished lid! 

Her white leaves are glistening through. 

A famous stanza, in nine lines, is that which was Spenserian 
used by Spenser in the "Faerie Queene." To eight 
rimed iambic pentameter lines he added a line with 
six feet, called an Alexandrine, and this combination 
makes the Spenserian stanza. Bryant used it in one 
of his earlier poems, called "After a Tempest." 

',^ The day had been a day of wind and storm ; \ 

The wind was laid, the storm was overpast, ^^ 

«v And stooping from the zenith bright and warm \ "^ 

vi Shone the great sun on the wide earth at last. \i) 

<~5 I stood upon the upland slope, and cast C 

c;« Mine eye upon a broad and beauteous scene, '^ 

v^ Where the vast plain lay girt by mountains vast. 
And hills o'er hills lifted their heads of green, 
With pleasant vales scooped out and villages between. O 

These are the chief forms of stanzas used by the 
great poets. They may be varied greatly by the use 



Stanza. 



10 



Introduction 



Single 

Stanza 
Forms. 
The Sonnet, 



of lines of different lengths, and the management 
of rhythm, rime, and alliteration. In some extended 
narrative poems and in odes, the groups of lines are 
of irregular number and often exceed nine. In these 
The Strophe, cases it is better, perhaps, to use the term strophe, 
rather than stanza, although the meaning of the two 
words is essentially the same. 

There are some single stanza forms and other fixed 
forms of verse which should be spoken of in this 
connection. The Sonnet was originally borrowed 
from Italian poetry, but has become a beautiful and 
characteristic feature of English verse. It consists 
of fourteen iambic pentameter lines, arranged in 
two groups of eight and six. The eight-line group 
has its rimes arranged thus, a, b, b, a. That is, in the 
first and second quatrains, the first line rimes with 
the fourth, and the second with the third. Dr. 
Holmes describes the arrangement familiarly as "two 
rimes sandwiched between two others." This rime 
arrangement has been made familiar by Tennyson's 
use of it in the poem "In Memoriam." The six-line 
group may be arranged in several different ways, a 
scheme frequently used being this : a, b, c, a, b, c. It 
is essential to excellence in the Sonnet, as in all 
single stanza forms, that the thought or emotion ex- 
pressed should be such as can well be condensed into 
this brief compass. The Sonnet also calls for a dis- 
tinct advance in the thought at the point where the 
eight-line group ends and the six-line group begins. 
It should be noted that the great English poets have 
not always held themselves strictly to the rules of 



Verse Form 1 1 

the Italian Sonnet. For example, Shakespeare's son- 
nets are fourteen-line iambic pentameter poems, but 
do not follow the rules of riming and grouping given 
above. A good example of the Sonnet is "The 
Broken Oar," by Longfellow. 

Once upon Iceland's solitary strand 
A poet wandered with his book and pen, 
Seeking some final word, some sweet Amen, 
Wherewith to close the volume in his hand. 
The billows rolled and plunged upon the sand, 
The circling sea-gulls swept beyond his ken, 
And from the parting cloud-rack now and then 
Flashed the red sunset over sea and land. 
Then by the billows at his feet was tossed 
A broken oar ; and carved thereon he read, 
" Oft was I weary, when I toiled at thee " : 
And like a man, who findeth what was lost, 
He wrote the words, then lifted up his head, 
And flung his useless pen into the sea.i 

As the Itahans gave us the Sonnet, the French French 

Forms. 

have given us a number of dainty bright forms, 
either single stanza, or with a fixed number of 
stanzas. Of late years they have been favorites 
with verse writers for the lighter, brighter, more del- 
icate poems, such as are sometimes called ''Vers de 
Societe." They are written under strict rules as to 
the number of lines and the arrangement of rimes, 
and are usually confined to two or at the most 
three rimes. They are called by various French 
names, such as Rondeau, Rondel, Ballade, Triolet, 
Villanelle, Chant Royal, etc. H. C. Bunner has 

^ For the use of this poem we are indebted to the courtesy of 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of Longfellow's Works. 



1 2 Introduction 

written very beautifully in these forms ; and as an 
example I give a Triolet by him called "Mign- 
onette." 

A pitcher of mignonette 

In a tenements highest casement ; 

Queer sort of a flower pot — yet 

That pitcher of mignonette 

Is a garden in heaven set 

To the little sick child in the basement, — 

The pitcher of mignonette 

In the tenement's highest casement. 

Rime. Rime is the recurrence of the same vowel sound 

at the end of words or syllables, and usually at the 
end of the line. To make a good rime it is neces- 
sary : 1st, that the recurrent vowel sound should be 
in the accented syllable ; 2d, that the preceding con- 
sonants should differ ; and 3d, that the succeeding 
consonants should be the same. Thus ''glad" and 
"bad" are good rimes, but "glad" and "hag" are 
not; neither are "bad" and "bade," though Chaucer, 
sometimes called the Father of English poetry, used 
such rimes as the last. " Sleepy " and " creepy " are 
good rimes, "creepy" and "defy" are not, because 
of the different sound of the last syllables caused by 
the accent. When the rimed accented syllable is the 
penult, the rime is called "feminine" or double; as 
"finding," "binding." Rimes may be triple, as "slen- 
derly," "tenderly"; and there are instances even of 
quadruple rime, as "dutifully," "beautifully." 

Alliteration is really rime at the beginning of words 
and syllables ; and in the oldest English poetry it 
was the regular characteristic feature, whereas end 



Classification of Verse 13 

rime was occasional and ornamental. In modern 
English verse the relative proportion of end rime 
and beginning rime or alliteration is reversed, end 
rime being usual, regular, characteristic ; while allit- 
eration, or beginning rime, is occasional and orna- 
mental. 

Assonance is the recurrence of similar vowel 
sounds without reference to the accompanying con- 
sonants ; as in these lines from Lowell : 

The great shorn sun as yoii see it now 
Across eight miles of undulent gold. 

Sometimes, but rarely in English verse, assonance 
is used at the end of the line, instead of true rime. 
A great deal of the most delicate art in verse making 
is found in the use of assonance and alliteration. 

Verse may be classified according to the nature 
of the thought it expresses, and the manner in which 
it treats that thought, into Epic, Lyric, and Dramatic. 
Epic verse is that which tells a story. This defini- Epic Verse, 
tion is too simple to be complete, but it gives the 
essential quality which has given its name to this 
type of poetry. We generally associate the ideas 
of seriousness of manner and heroic action with the 
Epic ; and the great poems of this class have these 
qualities. But considered as the name of a class, it 
seems best to include under the Epic all continued 
narrative and descriptive poems, such as Longfellow's 
*' Hiawatha " and " Tales of a Wayside Inn," and 
Lowell's "Sir Launfal." The first American poem 
of any pretension was in this form, — Joel Barlow's 



14 Introduction 

'' Columbiad." It had, however, more pretension 
than performance, and is not worthy to be mentioned 
with the great Epics of EngUsh Literature. In fact, 
American Literature has not yet produced a great 
Epic worthy to be put in the same class with the 
works of Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Milton. It has 
produced, however, some very beautiful narrative 
poems, such as those already mentioned. 

An important form of the Epic, though one slightly 
represented in American Literature, is that called the 

The Pastoral. Pastoral. It deals with rural scenes and characters, 
especially, as the name indicates, with shepherds and 
shepherdesses. The aim of this type of poetry is 
simplicity. The shepherds, however, in most exam- 
ples of the English pastoral, are very unlike the 
actual men and women who care for sheep and 
cattle ; and such verse seems to have a strong ten- 
dency to unreality. 

Lyric Verse. Lyric verse is that originally adapted to be sung 
to the accompaniment of the Lyre. That is the 
origin of the name. The term is now used to in- 
clude all short poems in which the personal and 
emotional elements are predominant. There is an 
endless variety of Lyrics of love, of war, of religion, 
and of conviviality. The Sonnet is a Lyric form 
which has been described. The most elaborate and 

The Ode. artificial form of the Lyric is the Ode ; seldom de- 
signed to be sung, and yet belonging to this class. 
The most famous example of this form in American 
Literature is Lowell's "Commemoration Ode." It is 
difficult to find or to frame a satisfactory definition 



Classification of Verse 15 

of the Ode ; but we will gratefully accept that which 
Mr. Edmund Gosse has published : *' a strain of 
enthusiastic and exalted lyrical verse, directed to a 
fixed purpose, and dealing progressively with one 
dignified theme." The Ballad is the form of the The Ballad. 
Lyric which most closely resembles the Epic ; it being 
a short narrative poem, originally intended to be sung. 
Indeed, the Ballad is by some writers classed with 
the Epic, and may well be considered an intermediate 
form, having the narrative quality and often the sim- 
plicity of the Epic, while it is usually rapid in move- 
ment, brief and emotional in its appeal, qualities which 
belong to the Lyric. Longfellow's " Wreck of the 
Hesperus" and Whittier's "Barbara Frietchie " are 
among the best-known American Ballads. 

Another form, which may be considered as inter- 
mediate between the Epic and Lyric, is the Elegy. The Elegy. 
In length, it tends toward the proportions of the 
reflective Epic ; but usually stops short of true 
Epic dimensions. In thought it is intensely lyrical, 
usually expressing serious reflections in view of sorrow 
or death. It is a marked characteristic of the poetry 
of the latter part of the eighteenth and the earlier 
part of the nineteenth centuries, and has one notable 
representative in our Literature, in Bryant's " Thana- 
topsis." 

Dramatic verse is that in which character, events. Dramatic 
and ideas are put before us by means of conversation ^^^^* 
and action, without narration, description, or exposi- 
tion. In most of its greatest examples it is designed 
for representation on the stage. But the best Ameri- 



i6 



Introduction 



can Dramatic poems have not been so represented. 
George H. Boker's " Francesca da Rimini " is perhaps 
the only example of a successful acting Dramatic 
poem in American Literature.^ 

Prose Form. Prosc Form sccms a simpler matter than that of 
verse ; but on account of that very apparent simplicity 
demands especial care for the creation or the appre- 
ciation of its artistic effects. To a certain extent the 
means by which the beautiful effects of verse are pro- 
duced force themselves upon the attention ; whereas, 
in prose, we often enjoy the result of the most laborious 
painstaking with no consciousness that there has been 
any effort put forth. All school books on rhetoric 
deal with the principles of prose writing more or less 
fully, and on this account it might seem that we need 
not pay much attention to that matter here. Still a 
brief discussion of some of the more essential prin- 
ciples will not be out of place. 

After the obvious and elementary questions of 
grammar and syntax have been settled, the first point 

Diction. of importance to be considered is Diction. By this 
we mean the author's selection and use of words. 
Our modern dictionaries contain upwards of two 
hundred thousand words. Shakespeare, however, 
used only about fifteen thousand ; and it is safe to 
assume that not many authors have a much larger 
vocabulary. Evidently there is room for great 

1 For the fuller study of verse forms which the teacher may desire, 
the best available manuals with which I am acquainted are " A Hand- 
book of Poetics," by F. B. Gummere, and " A Primer of English Verse," 
by Hiram Corson. " Ballades and Rondeaus," edited by Gleeson White, 
contains a good account of the French forms. 



Prose Form ly 

differences in the selection of words. An author's 
Diction may be prevailingly Saxon or Norman; saxonor 
or, to go back closer to the sources, Germanic or n°^"^^"- 
Latin. English is to a great extent a composite of 
these two elements, and the degree to which one 
or the other predominates in a writer will have a 
very important effect upon his style. There is a terse 
strength gained by a preference for the Saxon words, 
which, however, is sometimes gained at the expense 
of precision and elegance. Washington Irving is a 
good example of the author who wisely adapts his 
Diction to his subject, the proportion of Norman to 
Saxon words being far larger in an essay describing 
the tomb of a crusader, for example, than in the 
description of an English barn-yard in the same 
volume. Another point of importance in Diction is 
the proportion of short and long words ; which, how- 
ever, is likely to correspond closely to the proportion 
of Saxon and Norman. Some authors are much Figurative 
more literal in their style than others. Words may °^ ^^^^' 
be used in an endless variety of figures of speech. 
I will not repeat the definitions of the usual Tropes 
and Figures which are given in the works on rhet- 
oric ; but call attention to the importance, as a point 
of style, of the use of words in Figurative senses. 
There is a recognized distinction between the words 
suitable for use in prose and those which may prop- 
erly be employed in poetry. Some critics and some Poetic, 
poets have protested against the acknowledgment of 
this distinction, and have shown that the most poetic 
words may sometimes be employed in prose, and the 
c 



i8 



Introduction 



Sentences. 



Long or 
Short. 



most prosaic, even to vulgarisms and slang phrases, 
may be effectively used in poetry. But this only 
tests the rule by showing the exceptions which must 
be allowed. It remains clear that a frequent use 
of such words as "eve," ''morn," "ere," that is, 
of abbreviated forms and archaisms, tends to weaken 
prose, and that a corresponding misuse on the other 
side tends to vulgarize poetry. Finally a writer may, 
in prose as well as in poetry, suit the sound to the 
sense. He may use the onomatopoetic words, those 
whose sound imitates what they denote; as "buzz," 
"hiss," "whisper." Or he may more subtly select 
words which will in a less obvious, more suggestive 
way correspond in sound to his idea. Alliteration is 
employed by some writers, as in Lowell's " The water 
tinkles like a distant guitar or drums like a tambou- 
rine " ; but if there is much of this it approaches the 
border line of poetry, and so weakens the style. In 
general it may be said that the wise writer will care- 
fully, and thus after a while instinctively, adapt 
Diction to subject; and that his effects will be 
gained by means which do not obtrude themselves 
upon the reader's notice. 

Words are combined in sentences ; and the next 
point in style to be considered will be sentence 
structure. Here there is even more room for differ- 
ence, within the limits of good grammar, than in the 
selection of words. The sentences may be prevail- 
ingly long or short ; or they may be judiciously 
alternated. We cannot fail to notice in Emerson, 
for example, a tendency to short sentences, as in 



Prose Form 19 

the opening paragraphs of the Essay on Wealth ; 
while Lowell's sentences are, on the average, 
longer. The choppy, disconnected effect of a long 
series of very short sentences and the obscurity 
caused by a long and involved sentence are equally 
obvious. But legitimate effects in style are produced 
by both ; and the wise writer will not be limited to 
either. So sentences may be periodic; that is, so Periodic or 
constructed that the meaning is held completely °°^^° 
in suspense until the end. A strictly periodic sen- 
tence is so constructed that there is no point from 
beginning to end where one could put a period and 
have in the words before the point a grammatical 
sentence. But the periodic effect may be produced, 
where the meaning is held in suspense until very 
near the end, though it might be possible to cut off 
the last two or three words and still leave a complete 
grammatical sentence. So a composite sentence 
might be formed of two strictly periodic clauses ; in 
which case the effect of the whole would still be 
periodic. On the other hand, a loose sentence is one 
in which the clauses are so put together that one or 
more of them could be cut off and a complete sen- 
tence left. That is, there is no attempt made to hold 
the main thought in suspense. It is made plain in 
the first few words ; and the modifying or amplifying 
phrases are introduced in the form of clauses which 
might be easily turned into sentences. Here also 
there is no question of good or bad as between the 
two sorts of sentence. Each has its uses ; and a 
judicious writer will not deprive himself of the right 



20 



Introduction 



Balanced. 



Mass. 



Coherence. 



The 
Paragraph. 



to employ both. Some authors are, however, pre- 
vaiUngly periodic in their style ; others prevailingly 
loose ; and important effects may depend upon this 
difference. Sentences again may be "Balanced"; 
that is, they may be so arranged that corresponding 
words come at corresponding points, as at the begin- 
ning or the end or the middle of clauses. I may 
make my sentence balanced, or may leave it quite 
unbalanced. And so I may have a very simple 
balanced sentence. Sometimes the balance is made 
between contrasted ideas, in which case we have 
Antithesis ; of which some writers are very fond. 
Sentences may even be rhythmical ; that is, there may 
be a perceptible recurrence of accented syllables 
which tends to regularity. If it becomes so regular 
that it can be measured into lines, the prose has 
crossed the border, and become verse. In sentence 
structure much depends on what the rhetoricians call 
"Mass." This is the placing of the most important 
words where they will be most likely to attract 
and hold the attention ; usually either at the end 
or at the beginning. Equally important, especially 
in long sentences, is "Coherence"; that is, such 
an arrangement of the words and such a use of 
connectives that the thought easily passes from 
clause to clause ; and the whole sentence hangs 
together. In all these matters there is a wide 
difference between good writers. An author's style 
is judged no more by his words than by his 
sentences. 

What the word is to the sentence that, say the rhet- 



Prose Form 21 

oricians, the sentence is to the " Paragraph." One 
feels, before he understands it or reahzes the cause 
of it, the effect of good paragraph structure. The 
mere look of a page unbroken by paragraph divisions 
is discouraging to most readers ; and on the other 
hand a page broken up into numerous very short 
paragraphs, unless, of course, conversation or a 
collection of proverbs, makes an impression of a 
broken, disconnected style which is to many minds 
even more wearisome. The principles of paragraph 
structure are almost identical with those that govern 
the sentence ; the difference being mainly one of 
scale. The matter of Unity which was omitted from 
the discussion of the sentence needs careful attention 
in the paragraph. Some writers seem to pay very 
little attention to the paragraph as a unit of structure, 
and apparently divide mainly on considerations of 
mechanical convenience. But a paragraph should 
have as distinct a reason for its existence as a sen- 
tence. It should centre about a single main thought. 
It should show an orderly arrangement of thought. 
It may have sentences which . balance each other 
as the words of the sentence balance. It may be 
constructed on the principle of suspense ; when it 
will be essentially periodic. It may state the main 
thought at the beginning, and proceed by a series 
of modifications or amplifications ; in which case it 
will be like the loose sentence. It may be well or 
badly massed. The most important ideas should be, 
as the most important words in the sentence, either 
at the beginning or the end. It may have its sen- 



22 Iiiirodiictioit 

tences well or badly connected. And it may itself 
be deftly or clumsily connected with the paragraphs 
preceding or following. A conscious, artistic use of 
the paragraph is a comparatively late development 
in prose style. We do not find much evidence of it 
in the writers of the Elizabethan time ; whereas 
modern authors of the best type take great pains to 
have their paragraphs well constructed. 

When w^e come to consider the larger units of 
composition, we find that the style is strongly influ- 
enced by the form. That is to say, the brief essay, 
like those of Bacon, will call for a different style 
from that which characterizes an extended treatise. 
Authors vary greatly in the artistic use of larger 
divisions of composition. Sections, chapters, books, 
volumes, and series may be written wdth more or 
less attention to all these principles of style which 
we have considered. Beyond and above all this, 
moreover, is the nameless indefinable quality, which 
is sometimes called, specifically, ''style." It mani- 
fests itself in all these details of form of which I 
have spoken ; but it is more and other than they. 
It is the subtle aroma of the personality. The man 
himself looks out upon us through the words and 
sentences of the writer. And when that personality 
seizes upon our imaginations with the grip of a 
master, we cease our efforts at analysis ; and wonder 
gratefully at the mystery of genius. 

Prose Literature is later in its development than 
verse. This is not because men spoke in verse before 
they spoke in prose. It is probably because in the 



Classification of Prose 23 

earliest and simplest times men depended upon 
memory for the preservation of important composi- 
tions. Verse is much more easily remembered than 
prose. So the earliest prose compositions were for- 
gotten, while the compositions in verse were re- 
membered and repeated, chanted or sung, from one 
generation to another. After men began to read and 
write, prose compositions, speeches, and chronicles 
and legends began to be written, and Prose Litera- 
ture began to be ; all which, of course, was long be- 
fore the birth of American Literature. The earliest 
American Prose is better than the earliest American 
Verse, which is one of the characteristics of American 
Literature, due to the fact that it is not original, but 
derived from the British. 

The only way to classify Prose Literature is ac- 
cording to the subjects about which the author writes 
and the general method employed, which will usually 
be determined by the subject. Thus one great class 
of Prose writings is '' Narration," that which deals Narration. 
with events, " which recounts in order the particulars 
which make up a transaction," according to Professor 
Genung's definition. This needs to be further divided 
into History, Biography, and Fiction. American 
Literature has taken very high rank in Historical History, 
writing, Bancroft, Prescott, Motley, and Parkman 
being among the most distinguished authors in this 
division of Literature. 

Biography differs from History in that it makes the Biography. 
life of one person central, and groups all the events 
around it. 



24 



Intro diLctio7t 



Fiction. Fiction narrates imaginary events as if they were 

actual, not of course for the sake of deception, but 
for the sake of interest, sometimes with the further 
purpose of illustrating a period of History or enforc- 
ing a moral lesson. Fiction again may be divided 

Romance. into the " Romance," which deals with the extraordi- 
nary and improbable in events and character ; and 

Novel. the *' Novel," which seeks to represent life and char- 

acter as they really are in ordinary times and among 
ordinary people. 

Drama. The Drama was spoken of as a form of verse. It 

is quite as often a form of Prose Fiction. Modern 
acting plays are usually written in prose. Some of 
the greatest Dramatic compositions combine both 
methods, changing between verse and prose accord- 
ing to the nature of the action and the subject of 
the conversation. 

The second great division of Prose Composition is 

Exposition, called Exposition. It includes '* Essays," whether 
they discuss moral, political, social, or scientific ques- 
tions, as well as extended treatises on such topics. 
The great and important group of critical writings 
which discuss the nature, elements, and character- 
istics of literary productions comes under this 
general division. Also under this class would be 
grouped such books as discuss theological or re- 
ligious questions. American Literature has some 
great names in this division, such as Edwards, 
Franklin, and the authors of the *' Federalist " in 
the earlier period, and Emerson and Lowell in 
later times. 



Classification of Prose 25 

The third great division of Prose Composition is 
Oratory. All writings whose object is to convince or Oratory, 
persuade come under this head. It takes three chief 
forms : Forensic, — the arguments or appeals of law- Forensic, 
yers, addresses to judges or to juries, such as those of 
Ruf us Choate ; Political, — addresses or written argu- Political, 
ments before legislative bodies or popular audiences 
on subjects connected with national or state politics, 
of which class some of the most famous examples in 
our Literature are the speeches of Daniel Webster 
and Abraham Lincoln ; and Religious or Pulpit Ora- Pulpit, 
tory, — sermons or addresses on religious subjects, ex- 
amples of which are the sermons of W. E. Channing, 
Horace Bushnell, and Phillips Brooks. 

It will be noticed that there are forms of Prose 
Composition which, if the lines are strictly drawn, 
can hardly be included under any of these divisions. 
Still the classification will serve to guide us in our 
study of the great authors, and will be especially use- 
ful as indicating the qualities we ought to look for in 
each sort of composition. Thus it is evident that 
Narrative composition should be clear and simple in 
its style ; that in it figures of speech should be spar- 
ingly used ; that the language should be of an imagi- 
native or impassioned character only in descriptive or 
oratorical passages. Even more important is it in Ex- 
position that the language should be perfectly clear, 
although here for the sake of clearness illustrations 
and those figures of speech which help to make the 
thought plain will be largely employed. Oratory will 
give opportunity for every type of language. Force 



26 Introduction 

will here be the chief consideration, and the language 
may sometimes be as imaginative and impassioned as 
that of verse. The style of Henry Ward Beecher, 
for example, is remarkable for the number, aptness, 
and beauty of the figures of speech he uses. 

Recent writers on the subject of English Composi- 
tion name, in addition to these forms, '' Description " 
and "Argumentation." While I recognize the use- 
fulness of this further classification for purposes of 
rhetoric, it seems best not to employ it here, inas- 
much as in Literature, Description is almost always 
found in connection with Narration or Exposition, 
and Argumentation in connection with Exposition or 
Oratory.^ 

Summary. Thus we havc noticed that American Literature 

has taken the forms already worked out in English 
Literature. It falls into two great classes : Verse 
and Prose. Verse again falls into two great divi- 
sions, — Stychic, in which the lines are continuous ; 
and Stanzaic, in which they are divided into groups. 
The principal forms of stychic verse are : The 
unrimed iambic pentameter, or Blank Verse ; the 
rimed iambic pentameter, or Heroic Verse ; and the 
rimed iambic tetrameter. A foot consists of one ac- 
cented and one or more unaccented syllables. The 
principal feet are the Iambus, the Anapest, the 
Dactyl, the Trochee. The lines take their names 

1 In this study of Prose Form I am under obligations especially to 
Genung's " Practical Rhetoric," A. S. Hill's " Principles of Rhetoric," 
and W^endell's " English Composition." 



Classification of Prose 27 

from the number of feet, as Dimeter, Trimeter, 
Tetrameter, Pentameter, etc. The stanzas are groups 
of lines, and are named from the number of lines, as 
Couplet, Triplet, Quatrain, etc. Verse is divided 
according to subject and style into Epic, Lyric, and 
Dramatic. Prose is divided according to subject and 
method of treatment into Narration, Exposition, 
and Oratory ; and the first of these. Narration, has 
three important subdivisions : History, Biography, 
and Fiction. 

In all the types of prose and forms of verse 
American authors have written with distinguished 
success. In the succeeding chapters we shall pro- 
ceed to study the history and character of these 
writings, noting how the different forms have been 
developed in connection with the history of our 
national life, and trying to search out some of the 
peculiar excellences and striking characteristics of 
our greatest authors. It is a side of our history more 
important than the record of our wars, and more in- 
structive than the proceedings of Congress and Legis- 
latures. There is much in it to make us glad that we 
are Americans. Simplicity and purity of thought 
and language, fervent patriotism, hopefulness for the 
future of mankind, and a broad and at the same time 
profound faith in spiritual things are characteristics 
which we shall find very prominent in the great 
writers of our Literature. 



28 Introduction 

QUESTIONS 

What are the distinctions between Prose and Verse ? What is 
Poetry? Define the feet of English Verse. What are the 
principal lines? What are the chief forms of continuous or 
Stychic Verse? What is a Stanza, and what are the best- 
known forms? Describe the Spenserian stanza. Explain the 
form of the Sonnet. What are the chief French forms? 
What are the essential characteristics of a good rime? What 
is Alliteration ? What is Assonance ? What is Epic Verse ? 
What is Lyric Verse? What is Dramatic Verse ? What is the 
Pastoral? What are some of the chief forms of Lyric Verse? 
What is the Ode? What is Elegiac Verse? Why is Prose 
Form more difficult of appreciation than Verse? What is 
Diction? What are some of the most important points in 
which the Diction of good writers may differ? What is meant 
by poetic Diction as distinguished from prosaic? What is the 
effect upon style of short and long sentences respectively? 
What is the distinction between a periodic and a loose style? 
What is a balanced sentence? What is understood by Mass 
and Coherence as applied to the sentence? How do the 
principles of sentence structure apply to the Paragraph? What 
are some of the larger units of composition? What is the most 
important element of Style? Why is Prose later in development 
than Verse? What is Narration, and what are its three chief 
divisions? What is Exposition? What are the chief forms of 
Oratory ? 



PART ONE 

ORIGIN AND EARLY DEVELOP- 
MENT 

1607-1800 





THB 

GENERALL HI5TORIE 

Xlrginia.New-Englaiicl^ncl the Summer 

Iflei \\nh tKe names of th e Advemurets, 

Planters.and Covernpursfrom their 

firfttegnnning An.T5 -^ 4tothi5 

prefent 162.6' 



d/rjrT^rtz ^ (p^ciy^iS , 



i\iro tlieAlaps aad DefcriptiOTis i^all thofe 

Cotmtjycs.tiieir Commooiu'cs^eople , . 

Govemment.GjLAomeSjandJvcligion 

yet knowne . 

Dtptded rsrro sixe.Bockes 






tf) ^ ^ ^New fJngJand . ■^ 





CHAPTER I 

Period of Preparation. 1607- 1765 

Oliver Wendell Holmes says somewhere that a 
true biography must begin one hundred years before 
the subject's birth. So, to get a true idea of Ameri- 
can Literature, we must begin before the beginning. 
We have to take for granted the ancestry of our 
Literature in that of Great Britain, and begin at the 
point when there began to be an American people ; 
when the EngHsh settlers first came to this continent. 
The settlement of European countries is hidden in 
the mists of antiquity. But our country was settled 
in a time of enlightenment and of great intellectual 
activity. The early settlers of England, of Saxon 
race, were savage pirates, ignorant and wild ; and 
no contemporary records of their life remain. The 
early settlers of America were cultivated and highly 
civilized. So there are abundant records of their 
life. On the other hand, in the dim antiquity of 
early English History we find some great literary 
monuments, as the Epic poem, "Beowolf," and the 
writings of Caedmon and Cynewulf. There is noth- 
ing like these in American History ; and the reason is 
that the life of the time was not indigenous, but 
transplanted. A real American Literature was then 
impossible because the people were not yet Ameri- 
cans, but English who had changed their home for 

31 



32 



Period of Preparation 



[1607 



a special purpose. Their task was a very different 
one from that of the old Saxons. They had to turn 
a savage wilderness into a civilized country, to make 
roads, build bridges, cultivate farms, build houses, 
churches, schools, colleges, and organize all their 
social and political life. All that had been developed 
in a thousand years in Old England was created in 
fifty years in New England. Thus we can readily 
understand that the life was so busy, so hurried, so 
unnatural, that a native Literature like that of the 
early ages of older countries was impossible. But 
in the records of the voyages and first settlements, 
the journals of the colonists, the sermons of the 
preachers, we find the germs of the historical and de- 
votional writings of later times ; and there were some 
efforts at verse writing which make an interesting link 
between the English poetry of the seventeenth cen- 
tury and the work of American poets in later days. 

The earliest successful settlement in America was 
that in Virginia in 1607; and it is in connection with 
that settlement that we find the first memorable 
writing. One of the leaders of this first settlement, 
one of the most romantic characters in history, 
had the very unromantic, though highly respect- 

john Smith, able, name of John Smith. He was born in Wil- 
1579-1632. 

loughby, Lincolnshire, England, in January, 1579; 

ran away to the wars in the Netherlands when fifteen 

years old; was afterwards engaged in wars against 

the Turks ; was concerned in the founding of the 

colony at Jamestown in 1607; in 16 14 explored the 

New England coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod; 



Virginia, 
1607. 



1765] Period of Preparation 33 

made several efforts to organize companies to colonize 
New England ; spent his last years in writing descrip- 
tions of his adventures; and died in London in 1632. 
There are two of his works which are of special in- 
terest and importance for us ; one of these being prob- 
ably the first bit of writing done in America which was First 
ever printed. It is a letter written by Smith from Book. 
Virginia, and printed in London, 1608. The title- 
page of this pioneer American book is as follows : 

A True Relation of such Occurrencies and Accidents 
of Noate 

as hath hapned in Virginia since the first planting " a True 
of that colony, which is nozv resident in the south part ^f^^'^°^< 
thereof till the last return frofn thence. 
Written by Captain Smith coronell of the said Colony 
to a worshipful friend of his in England. 

[Picture of a ship in fill sail. ^ 
Printed for John Tappe and to be sold at the Grey 
Hound in PauVs Chiuxh Yard by W. IV. 

The other work by Smith of special interest to us " General 
is "The General History of Virginia," printed in virginL° 
London, 1624. This is not an American book in the 1624. 
same sense as "A True Relation," because it was 
written as well as printed in England. It is Smith's 
extended elaborate account of the events and scenes 
briefly mentioned in the former book. Historians 
have been inclined to discredit some of the state- 
ments in this book, particularly the Pocahontas 
story, thinking that if it were actual fact it would 
have been related in the earlier work. We are not 



34 Period of Preparation [1607 

specially concerned with the question of the historic 
credibility of the story. But from any point of view 
it is of great interest, and I give it in Smith's words. 

The Opitchapam the King's brother invited him to his house, 

Pocahontas whcrc, with as many platters of bread, foule, and wild beasts, 
Story. as did inviron him, he bid him welcome ; but not any of 

them would eate a bit with him, but put up all the remain- 
der in Baskets. At his return to Opechancanough's all the 
King's women, and their children, flocked about him for their 
parts, as a due by Custome, to be merry with such fragments. 

But his waking mind in hydeous dreams did oft see wondrous 

shapes 
Of bodies strange, and huge in growth, and of stupendious 

makes. 

At last they brought him to Werowocomoco, where was 
Powhatan, their Emperor. Here more than two hundred 
of those grim Courtiers stood wondering at him, as he had 
beene a monster; till Powhatan and his train had put them- 
selves in their greatest braveries. Before a fire upon a seat 
like a bedsted, he sat covered with a great robe, made of 
Rarowcun skinnes and all the tayles hanging by. On either 
hand did sit a young wench of 16 or 18 years, and along 
on each side the house, two rowes of men, and behind them 
as many women, with all their heads and shoulders painted 
red ; many of their heads bedecked with the white downe 
of Birds ; but every one of them with something : and a 
great chain of white beads about their necks. At his en- 
trance before the King, all the people gave a great shout. 
The Queene of Appamatuck was appointed to bring him 
water to wash his hands, and another brought him a bunch 
of feathers, instead of a towel to dry them. Having feasted 
him after their best barbarous manner they could, a long 
consultation was held, but the conclusion was, two great 
stones were brought before Powhatan : then as many as 



1765] Period of Preparation 35 

could laid hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon 
laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beate out 
his braines, Pocahontas the King's dearest daughter, when 
no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes and 
laid her owne upon his to save him from death : whereat 
the Emperour was contented he should live to make him 
hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper ; for they thought 
him as well of all occupations as themselves. For the King 
himselfe will make his owne robes, shooes, bowes, arrowes, 
pots ; plant, hunt, or doe anything so well as the rest. 

They say he bore a pleasant shew, 
But sure his heart was sad. 
For who can pleasant be, and rest, 
That lives in feare and dread : 
And having life suspected, doth 
It still suspected lead. 

It will be seen that Smith had considerable power of 
description. One gets a vivid picture of the Indian 
chief and his surroundings, and the story of the 
escape is told with spirit. 

In 1609 the ship "Sea Venture" left England 
with a company of colonists under the leadership of 
Sir Thomas Gates. The party were wrecked in a 
hurricane off the Bermuda Islands. Some of them, 
however, reached Virginia, and among them was one 
William Strachey. Strachey wrote a description of wiiiiam 

■' •' ^ Strachey. 

the voyage, "■ A True Reportory of the Wracke and 
Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates upon and from the 
Bermudas," which was published as part of a work 
called " Purchas's Pilgrims." As it was just about 
this time that Shakespeare wrote " The Tempest," the 
storm scene of which is, by the phrase " still vexed 
Bermoothes," associated with the Bermudas, scholars 



36 Period of Preparatio7i [1607 

have thought that Strachey's book may have been in 
the great dramatist's mind when he wrote the play. 
The following sentences from Strachey are of interest : 

During all this time the heavens looked so black upon 
us, that it was not possible the elevation of the Pole might 
be observed ; not a star by night nor sunbeam by day was 
to be seen. Only upon the Thursday night, Sir George 
Summers being upon the watch, had an apparition of a little 
round light, like a faint star, trembling and streaming along 
with a sparkling blaze, half the height upon the mainmast, 
and shooting sometimes from shroud to shroud, tempting 
to settle as it were upon any of the four shrouds, and for 
three or four hours together, or rather more, half the night 
it kept with us, running sometimes along the main yard to 
the very end, and then returning. At which Sir George 
Summers called divers about him and showed them the 
same, who observed it with much wonder and carefulness. 
But upon a sudden, towards the morning watch, they lost the 
sight of it and knew not what way it made. 

Compare this v^ith "The Tempest," Act I, Scene II : 

Ariel. I boarded the king's ship ; now on the beak, 
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, 
I flamM amazement : 
Sometimes, I'd divide, 
And burn in many places ; on the topmast, 
The yards, and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, 
Then meet, and join. 

It seems quite probable that Strachey's prose may 

have suggested Shakespeare's poetry, in this passage. 

George Georgc Sandys, called by Dryden " best versifier 

Sandys, 1621. -. , ^ ,) tt- • • • ^ i i m 

of the former age, came to Virgmia m 1021, and while 
there translated the last ten books of Ovid's " Meta- 
morphoses." 



1765] Period of Preparation 37 

Among these Virginia colonists was one who had 
the spirit we are more accustomed to associate with 
the Pilgrim Fathers. Alexander Whittaker, a clergy- Alexander 
man of the Church of England, came to Virginia as 
a missionary in 161 1, and in 16 13 published in Lon- 
don a book called "Good News from Virginia." A 
sentence from this book shows the spirit of the man. 

Wherefore you — right wise and noble adventurers of 
Virginia — whose hearts God hath stirred up to build Him 
a temple, to make Him an house, to conquer a kingdom for 
Him here, be not discouraged with those many lamentable 
assaults that the devil hath made against us ; he now rageth 
most because he knoweth his kingdom is to have a short end. 
Go forward boldly and remember that you fight under the 
banner of Jesus Christ, that you plant His kingdom who hath 
already broken the serpent's head. God may defer His 
temporal reward for a season, but be assured that in the 
end you shall find riches and honor in this world and blessed 
immortality in the world to come. 

On December 22, 1620, thirteen years after the 
settlement at Jamestown, the Pilgrim Fathers landed 
at Plymouth ; and in the fifty years following, by the Plymouth, 
growth of that colony and by Puritan settlements at 
Boston, Salem, and other points, the eastern part of 
what is now the state of Massachusetts became a 
prosperous community. The Plymouth colonists 
were separatists of a sect called Brownists, who had 
fled to Holland in order to worship according to their 
convictions, and from Holland came to America. 
The other New England colonists, the Puritans, had 
not formally separated from the Church of England, 



38 Period of Preparation [1607 

but had abandoned the use of the Book of Common 
Prayer, and in their beliefs and usages closely re- 
sembled the Pilgrims. By the Act of Uniformity 
those who sympathized with them in England were 
compelled either to resume the usages they had 
abandoned or give up their positions in the Church. 
Many of them joined the colonists. They were all 
CaMnists in religious belief and sympathized with 
Cromwell in politics. And out of these conditions 
the peculiarities of their life and writings grew. 

One of the leaders of the Plymouth colony was 
\.viiiiam William Bradford. His life was very different from 

Bradford, ... 

1588-1657. that of John Smith, but in its own way equally inter- 
esting. Born in Yorkshire, England, 1588, he joined 
the Brownists in 1606, with them fled to Holland and 
with them came to New England. In all the early 
histor}' of the colony he was a leading spirit, and was 
chosen governor every year until he died in 1657. 
He left several bits of historical writing; but the 
most important is the " History of Pl}Tnouth Planta- 
tion," which was presented in his manuscript in 
Boston till the Revolution, when it disappeared. In 
1855 it was discovered in the Fulham Library in 
England ; and the following year a copy was made 
and pubHshed by the Massachusetts Historical So- 
ciety. This precious manuscript was recently, through 
the good offices of Ambassador Thomas F. Bayard, 
and the generositv* of the English authorities, given 
into the keeping of the state of Massachusetts. 
Bradford has been caUed the Father of American 
History. It will be interesting to compare an extract 



1765] Period of Preparation 39 

from his book with that from John Smith, to see if 
the character of the men is at all reflected in their 
style. I select the passage describing the embarka- 
tion of the Pilgrims. 

And the time, being come that they must depart, they 
were accompanied with most of their brethren out of ye city 
into a towne sundrie miles off, called Delfe's Haven ; where 
the ship lay ready to receive them. So they left ye goodly 
and pleasante city, which had been their resting place 
near twelve years ; but they knew they were pilgrims and 
looked not much on these things, but lift up their eyes to 
the heavens, their dearest countrie, and quieted their spirits. 
When they came to the place they found the ship and all 
things ready ; and such of their friends as could not come 
with them followed after them, and sundrie also came from 
Amsterdam to see them shipte and to take their leave of 
them. That night was spent with little sleepe by the most, 
but with friendly entertainment and Christian discourse and 
other real expressions of true Christian love. The next day 
the wind being faire, they went aboarde, and their friends 
with them, when truly doleful was the sight of that sad and 
mournful parting ; to see what sighs and sobbs and prayers 
did sound amongst them, what tears did gush from every 
eye, and pithy speeches pierced each heart — that sundry 
of the Dutch strangers that stood on the key as spectators 
could not refrain from tears — yet comfortable and sweet it 
was to see such hvely and true expressions of clear and un- 
fained love. But the tyde — which waits for no man — calling 
them away that were thus loathe to depart, their Reverend 
Pastor, falling downe on his knees, — and they all with him 
— with waterie cheeks commended them with most fervent 
prayers to the Lord and His blessing. And then with mutual 
imbrases and many tears, they took their leaves of one another, 
which proved to be the last leave to many of them. 



40 



Period of Preparation 



[1607 



Edward 
Wlnslov. 



"TheNci 

FjigikJi 

Canaao," 
1637. 



Closely associated with Bradford and equally prom- 
inent in the early history of Plymouth was Edward 
Winslow. In connection with Bradford he kept a 
journal of the first- days of the colony, which is an 
important s?urce of histor)^ It was long known as 
"M-T-vr: 5 Pvt-ir'on "; but is now printed under its 
pr:pcr :i:lc ci Bradford and WinsloVs Journal" 

In \-ivid contri;: : these staid leaders of the Pil- 
^t::" colony was T /. : Morton, a rollicking Elnglish 
adventurer who founded a colony at Mount WoUaston 
— now Braintree — ;:.-rd it Maremount, or Merry- 
mount, invited the Indians to help him celebrate 
May-day, and furnished them with strong drink and 
firearms. These proceedings of course scandalized the 
Pilgrims, and the last performance, that of giving the 
Indians - t : : ^ . i : usly and justly alarmed them. 
An t: r n . naer command of Mnes S: :. 'h, 

his colon V was ::: :-n no, 






W£ 

an 
fr: 
ac 

a 



New ^ 

ingan: 

inz are 



on 



k.\- V- >w*. i,_ 



:k to England- He was a 
:'.:r of " Hudibras," and his 
::. Pi^Tnouth is the origin c: 
in that poem . d:,:: - Canto 2, Lines j.C'p- 
n DubUshed at An_ - : r : -3jn, in 1637, ' 7 a - 
a lanaan." It is a queer farrago, open- 
sin sr with some verses of which the foUow- 
: : oecimen: 

Stt Jtitodes of fish 

5 r 3t thy dish. 

\i :..: It v; lost adore 



jud 

:': -d. 



1765] Period of Preparation 41 

Morton speculates as to the origin of the Indians, 
deriving them from the Trojans ; and with a lively 
imagination describes their customs. Among other 
things he asserts that Indian children are born white, 
and then stained brown with walnut juice. The last 
part of the book is a sarcastic description of the ex- 
pedition against him. Standish he calls Captain 
Shrimp ; and other names he applies to the Pilgrims 
are : Mr. Inncense Faircloth, Mr. Charter Party, 
Master Subtilety, and Captain Littleworth ; which 
remind us strongly of the style of Bunyan, utterly 
contrasted as the spirit of Morton's book is to the 
spirit of the "Pilgrim's Progress." 

Another important historical work was the journal 
of John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachu- J®^^ 

Winthrop's 

setts. It was published in 1825, under the title *'The journal. 
History of New England from 1630 to 1649." 

Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was R°g^^ 

Williams, 

probably the first white man to clearly teach the 1599-1683. 

folly and wrong of persecution for conscience' sake. 

The book which fully brings out this great thought 

is entitled "The Bloody Tenent of Persecution for "The Bloody 

Tenent," 

Cause of Conscience." It is written for the most part 1644. 
in the form of a dialogue between Peace and Truth. 
The following sentence gives the gist of the argument : 

Sir I must be Humbly bold to say that tis impossible 
for any man or men to maintain their Christ by the sword 
and worship a true Christ ; to fight against all consciences 
opposite to theirs and not to fight against God in some 
of them, and to hunt after the precious life of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 



42 Period of Preparation [1607 

John Eliot, John Eliot, called the "Apostle to the Indians," 

I 04 I 90. devoted his life to endeavors to bring the natives of 
New England to the belief and practice of Chris- 
tianity. As a part of his work he translated the 
Eliot's Bible, Bible into the Algonquin language ; and this Indian 

I66I-I663. TTI 1 1 1 

Bible has become one of the most precious of the 
*'rare" books sought after by collectors. The New 
Testament was printed at Cambridge in 1661, and 
the Old Testament in 1663. 

Eliot's missionary labors resulted in the conversion 
of a large number ; and a town of " Praying 
Indians " was established at Natick, Massachusetts. 
The fact that these tribes have disappeared, and 
there remains no visible evidence of Eliot's work, 
does not really detract from its value. Neither does 
the fact that no one remains alive who can read his 
Bible prove that the labor spent upon it was wasted. 
Eliot was also connected with the preparation of 
"The Bay Psalm Book," the first book printed in 
this country. He published the " Christian Common- 
wealth," "The Communion of the Churches," and 
"The Harmony of the Gospels," besides assisting in 
the preparation of a number of tracts in regard to 
the conversion of the Indians. 
Nathaniel Nathaniel Ward was deemed worthy of mention in 

Ward, 1578- Fuller's " Worthies of England." He was a man of 
extraordinary talents and wide scholarship. Being 
obliged to abandon his living in England on ac- 
count of nonconformity, he came to Massachusetts 
and for a little while preached at Ipswich, or Agawam, 
as it was then called. He published a book called 



1652. 



1765] Period of Preparation 43 

"The Simple Cobbler of Agawam." Its style is "The simple 
sententious and epigrammatic. If it were a little less Agawa^m/' 
artificial and strained, it would be very strong ; and ^^47- 
as it is he says a good many things in a very biting 
fashion. Here are a sentence or two from this book : 

It is a more common than convenient saying, that nine 
tailors make a man : it were well if nineteen could make a 
woman to her mind. 

It is a most unworthy thing for men that have bones in 
them, to spend their lives in making fiddle cases for futilous 
women's fancies ; which are the very pettitoes of infirmity, 
the giblets of perquisquiHan toys. 

Sometimes Ward dropped into poetry, as, for ex- 
ample : 

Poetry's a gift wherin but few excel, 
He doth very ill, that doth not passing well. 
But he doth passing well, that doth his best, 
And he doth best, that passeth all the rest. 

In Ward's congregation at Ipswich for a time wor- 
shipped Mrs. Anne Bradstreet. She was a dausfhter -^""^ 

^^ . . Bradstreet, 

of Governor Thomas Dudley. The literary spirit was 1612-1672. 
strong in her ; and she doubtless transmitted the ten- 
dency to her descendants, as among them are William 
E. Channing, R. H. Dana, Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
and Wendell Phillips. She was a busy wife and 
mother, but she took time from her many cares to 
put her thoughts as to life and nature into verse. In 
some of these verses a true sympathy with nature 
and a certain delicacy of expression are revealed, and 
they all show a refined spirit and a sensitive instinct 
for poetic form. Her pastor, Ward, makes some 



44 Period of Preparation [1607 

amends for his cynical words about women in some 
commendatory verses he wrote on occasion of the 
pubhcation of ]\Irs. Bradstreet's poems. He repre- 
sents Apollo as saying : 

It half revives my chill frost-bitten blood, 
To see a woman once do aught that's good ; 
And chode by Chaucer's boots and Homer's furs, 
Let men look to 't. lest women wear the spurs. 

Poems, 1650. Her volume of poems was published first in London 
in 1650. The second edition was issued in Boston, 
printed by John Foster, 1678. This is a very pre- 
cious little book, as the first volume of original 
American verse and one of the first literary publi- 
cations in our history. The gentle modesty of her 
thought about herself appears in these lines : 

My muse unto a child I may compare 
Who sees the riches of some famous fair, 
He feeds his eyes but understanding lacks 
To comprehend the worth of all those knacks ; 
The glittering plate and jewels he admires. 
The hats and fans, the plumes and ladies' tires, 
And thousand times his mazed mind doth wish 
Some part at least of that brave wealth were his. 
But feeling empty wishes naught obtain 
At night turns to his mother's cot again. 
And tells her tales — his full heart over glad — 
Of all the glorious sight his eyes have had ; 
But finds too soon his want of eloquence ; 
The silly prattler speaks no word of sense. 
But seeing utterance fail his great desires 
Sits down in silence ; deeply he admires. 

But that she could tell in sweet and musical lan- 
guage some of the things she saw in the "famous 
fair " is evident from the lines that follow : 



1765] Period of Preparation 45 



CONTEMPLATION 

While musing thus with contemplations fed, 

And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain, 
The sweet-tongued Philomel flew o'er my head 

And chanted forth a most melodious strain. 
Which rapt me so with wonder and delight, 
I judged my hearing better than my sight. 
And wished me wings with her awhile to take my flight. 

O merry bird, said I, that fears no snares. 

That neither toyles nor hoardes up in the barn, 
Feels no sad thoughts nor cruciating cares 

To gain more good or shun what might thee harm ; 
Thy cloathes ne'er wear, thy meat is everywhere, 
Thy bed a bough, thy drink the water clear, 
Reminds not what is past nor what's to come dost fear. 

Thy dawning morn with songs thou dost prevent, 

Sets hundred notes unto thy feathered crew ; 
So each one tunes his pretty instrument, 
And warbling out the old begins anew. 
And thus they pass their youth in summer season, 
Then follow thee into a better region, 
Where winter's never felt by that sweet airy legion. 

An event of this period, of the greatest importance 
for American Literature, was the founding of Har- Harvard 
vard College. On October 28, 1636, the colonists founded, 
resolved " to give 400 Pounds towards a schoole or ^^^6. 
College." In 1638 Rev. John Harvard bequeathed 
700 pounds and his library to the proposed college, 
and it was established at Cambridge and his name 
given to it. One of the first results of this action 
was the establishment of a printing press at Cam- Printing 

, . Press. 

bridge, the first on this continent ; and here in the 
year 1640 was published the first book ever printed 
in America. This was ''The Bay Psalm Book," a very Book, 1640. 



46 



Period of Preparation 



[1607 



First News- 
paper, 1690. 



J 6 ^^ 

Robert 
Beverly. 

James Blair, 

John 
Lawson. 



William 
Livingston. 



unpoetical version of the Psalms, designed for use in 
the churches. Next in importance to the birth of 
the college in America is that of the newspaper. 
The first publication of the sort, called '* Public 
Occurrences," appeared in Boston in the year 1690; 
but it was immediately suppressed. April 4, 1704, 
"The Boston News Letter" appeared, and for fifteen 
years this was the only newspaper in America. De- 
cember 22, 1719, "The American Weekly Mercury" 
appeared in Philadelphia. A full account of these 
and other early journals is given in Professor Tyler's 
" History of American Literature," to which we are 
indebted for the facts in newspaper history given 
above. 

Among the historical writings of the later colonial 
period should be mentioned the " History of Vir- 
ginia," by Robert Beverly, London, 1705; a little 
book called " Present State of Virginia and the Col- 
lege," 1727, by James Blair, founder of William and 
Mary College; "History of North Carolina," by John 
Lawson ; and " Review of the Military Operations in 
North America, 175 3-1 756," by William Livingston. 
This William Livingston was a man of a different 
type from many whom we have been studying. 
He lived in princely style at Elizabethtown, New 
Jersey ; was a leader of thought and action during 
the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars; 
published a poem called " Philosophic Solitude or the 
Choice of a Rural Life " ; and for a year conducted 
the " Independent Reflector," a weekly political and 
miscellaneous journal published in New York. 



1765] Period of Preparatio7i 47 

In the later years of this period and the earlier 
years of the next, John Bartram was living in the 
neighborhood of Philadelphia, planting and caring 
for his botanical garden, studying the plant life 
around him, and corresponding with Peter Collinson 
of London in regard to his botanical observations. 
His "Conversion to Botany," as it was told by 
himself, is preserved in the writings of Hector St. 
John de Crevecoeur, whose " Letters of an American 
Farmer " are perhaps the earliest expression, in the 
writings of an American, of the literary feeling for 
nature. Bartram has left the written record or 
journal of extensive travels in the interest of scien- 
tific observation of nature ; and his son William has 
left writings of the same general character. 

Probably the most readable book of all this period 
is one which its author never intended to publish. 
It is a diary kept in Boston and vicinity during the 
years 1673-1729, by Judge Samuel Sewall. It has Samuel 

Sgw3.11 

been published in the transactions of the Massachu- 
setts Historical Society, but has never been issued in 
a form suited to the general reader. Samuel Sewall 
was one of the leading citizens of Boston through the 
latter part of the seventeenth and the first part of 
the eighteenth centuries. As a judge he presided 
at some of the trials for witchcraft, and in accordance 
with his understanding of the evidence, condemned 
some poor wretches to death. In later years he 
became convinced that the whole thing was a delu- 
sion, and relieved his troubled conscience by a formal 
confession which was read by the minister in church 



48 



Period of Preparation 



[1607 



Increase 

Mather. 
1639-1723. 



" Illustrious 
Provi- 
dences," 
1684. 



while Judge Sewall stood with bowed head in the 
presence of the congregation. Sewall was promi- 
nent in pubUc affairs and in church and college 
matters. He was three times married, and he care- 
fully records the courtships which led to his second 
and third weddings. Thus his diary presents a vivid 
picture of the public and private life of the time, 
besides disclosing a singularly pure, manly, and 
gentle character. 

If we were to judge by amount of production, two 
of the greatest authors who ever lived were Increase 
and Cotton Mather. It is the fashion to speak of 
the blather dynasty, as there are four generations 
of ministers of that name. But really the first and 
the last were of no special influence or prominence. 
The second and third were mighty men of renown 
in old New England, perhaps the most perfect 
examples of the puritan minister to be found in 
history. Increase Mather was born at Dorchester, 
June 21, 1639, 9.nd received his name from the 
remarkable increase in the population of the colony 
that vear. He was educated at Dublin Universitv 
and besfan his ministrv in Ensfland ; but the Resto- 
ration of the Stuarts sent him back to New Eng- 
land, and he became pastor of the Old North Church 
in Boston. He was for a long time president of 
Harvard College, and was active and prominent in 
all public matters. He issued one hundred and 
thirty-six publications, most of which are forgotten. 
The one that is best known was entitled " An Essay 
for the Recording of Illustrious Providences," pub- 



1765] Period of Preparation 49 

lished in Boston, 1684. It is filled with strange 
stories of witchcraft and other marvels. 

An even more imposing figure in the colonial 
period was Cotton Mather, the son of Increase. Cotton 

. . Mather, 

Born m 1603, he was a wonder of precocity. At 1663-1728. 
the age of eleven he was a Freshman at Harvard. 
At fifteen he took the degree of B.A., and at eighteen 
that of M.A., the subject of his thesis for the latter 
being '' The Divine Origin of the Hebrew Vowel 
Points." His published works number three hun- 
dred and eighty -three titles. He was a marvel of 
multifarious learning and of industry, but he seems 
to have been inferior to his father in practical ability. 
Sewall appears not to have liked him very well ; and 
perhaps this dislike was one of the principal hin- 
drances in the way of his ambition to succeed his 
father in the presidency of Harvard. He was his 
father's associate and successor as pastor of the 
Old North Church. The wrong-headed character of 
much of his work is illustrated by his laborious 
translation of the Psalms of David from the Hebrew 
into English blank verse, probably of all possible 
forms the worst adapted to the rendering of the 
spirit of the original. His monumental work is the 
" Magnalia Christi Americana ; or the Ecclesiastical " Magnaiia 

Christi 

History of New England from its First Plantation Americana," 
in the Year 1620 unto the Year of our Lord 1698." ^^°^' 
The book is an ill-digested, rambling collection of 
historical matter connected with Church and State 
and the personal lives of prominent ministers and 
officials. It is a book to be dug into by the 



50 Period of Preparation [1607 

historian; not one to be enjoyed by the general 

reader. 

There was one man of this period who seems 

never to have beheved in the witchcraft phenomena, 

the accounts of which formed a considerable part of 
Robert Caief, the Writings of the Mathers. Robert Calef, a Boston 
dersofthe merchant, published in London, 1705, a book called 
Invisible u ]y[Q^g Woudcrs of the Invisible World; or the Won- 

World,"i705. 

ders of the Invisible World Displayed." It was an 
attack upon the publications of Increase and Cotton 
Mather on the subject of witchcraft, and an acute 
argument against the theory that the phenomena 
ascribed to witchcraft were the results of demoniac 
possession or of commerce with the devil. The book 
gave such offence that, by command of Increase 
Mather, it was publicly burned at Harvard Square. 
This is probably the only instance in American his- 
tory of the official burning of an heretical book. 
Whittier has imagined a meeting between this 
clear-thinking merchant and the imperious puritan 
minister, and finely described it in one of his earlier 
poems, "Calef in Boston, 1692." 

For a great many years, almanacs — little books 
containing astronomical information, calendars, etc., 
combined with a great variety of historical, practi- 
cal, and literary matter — were found in almost 
all American homes. They have been an impor- 
tant educational influence ; and one of the most 
famous of American writings, Benjamin Frank- 
lin's '' Poor Richard," was issued in that form. 
These facts give importance to the issue of the 




Jr^^ ^/^€<^<n cJtvcvi% 



1765] Period of Preparation 51 

first "Almanac," in 1725, by Nathaniel Ames; three Nathaniel 

Ames' 

years before James Franklin published the "Rhode "Almanac; 
Island Almanac," which preceded "Poor Richard." ^''^^" 

It is a long step, in every sense of the word, from 
those we have been studying to the next name we 
shall consider. Jonathan Edwards is the one really Jonathan 

r 1 • • T TT '11 Edwards, 

great man of this period. He was unquestionably 1703-1758. 
one of the keenest intellects and strongest spirits of 
the world's history. His work, while not of a char- 
acter to attract general interest now, has been very 
powerful in its influence over thoughtful minds; and, 
directly or indirectly, by attraction or repulsion, it is 
responsible for much of the serious thoughtful writ- 
ing of the last century. He is too exclusively thought 
of as a great theologian, and especially as a preacher, 
in terrible forms, of future punishment. It is true 
that, with a creative imagination, and with mas- 
terful command of language, he expressed what 
was generally believed as to future punishment; 
and the result is awful in its gloomy grandeur. In 
this respect it is not out of place to call him the 
Dante of the Pulpit. But this does not represent 
the most important or the most characteristic side 
of his mind. His " Freedom of the Will " is one of 
the greatest, and for two generations was to America 
one of the most influential, works of philosophy. He 
was also a keen observer of nature and student of 
the human mind, and described the working of the 
human affections in a book which has been a classic 
of Christian devotion. He was a leader in practical 
affairs also, and sacrificed everything dear to him in 



52 Period of Pi^eparation [1607 

his professional life to what he felt to be an impor- 
tant moral issue. 

He was born at East Windsor, Connecticut, in 
1703; graduated at Yale, 17 19; ordained at North- 
ampton, Massachusetts, 1727; went to Stockbridge 
as missionary to the Indians, 175 1 ; was installed as 
president of Princeton College in 1758, and died the 
same year. I will take for specimens of the work 
of Edwards some brief extracts showing different 
aspects of his many-sided nature. And first a single 
sentence from the famous sermon, *' Sinners in the 
Hands of an Angry God," will be enough to represent 
that well-known phase of his thinking. In reading 
this, bear in mind that, to Edwards' thinking, a sin- 
ner was one who deliberately, by choice, set his will 
against that of God ; and God was felt to be the 
centre and source of all conceivable wisdom, good- 
ness, and power. Toleration of evil was to him 
utterly inconsistent with perfect goodness ; and the 
"sinner" is here conceived of as having chosen evil 
instead of God. 

" Sinners in The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one 

the Hands of Isolds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors 

an Angry i-i irn iii- i 

God." yo^ 3.na IS areadfully provoked ; his wrath towards you 

burns like fire ; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing 
else but to be cast into the fire ; he is of purer eyes than 
to bear to have you in his sight ; you are ten thousand times 
so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous 
serpent is in ours. 

This seems very far away from any modern way 
of thinking about God and man. Place in con- 



1765] Period of Preparation 53 

trast with it a passage in which Edwards comes 
very near to the most attractive forms of modern 
Christian thinking. This selection is taken from a 
volume called '' Observations concerning the Script- 
ure Oeconomy of the Trinity," edited by Egbert C. 
Smyth, and published in 1880 : 

So that, when we are delighted with flowery meadows, and 
gentle breezes of wind, we may consider that we see only 
the emanations of the sweet benevolence of Jesus Christ. 
When we behold the fragrant rose and lily, we see His love 
and purity. So the green trees, and fields, and singing of 
birds are the emanations of His infinite joy and benignity. 
The easiness and naturalness of trees and birds are shadows 
of His beauty and loveliness. The crystal rivers and mur- 
muring streams are the footsteps of His favor, grace, and 
beauty. 

Better known, and letting us into the very heart of 
this great man, is the following, written in 1723, for 
no eyes but his own, and describing the lady who 
afterward was his wife : 

They say there is a young lady in New Haven who is 
beloved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, 
and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, 
in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her 
mind with exceeding sweet delight, and that she hardly 
cares for anything except to meditate on him — that she 
expects after a while to be received up where he is, to be 
raised up out of the world and caught up into heaven ; 
being assured that he loves her too well to let her remain 
at a distance from him always. There she is to dwell with 
him, and to be ravished with his love and delight forever. 
Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the 
riches of its treasures, she disregards it and cares not for it, 



54 Period of Preparation [1607 

and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange 
sweetness in her mind and singular purity in her affections ; 
is most just and conscientious in all her conduct ; and you 
could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful, if 
you should give her all the world, lest she should offend this 
Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, 
and universal benevolence of mind ; especially after this 
Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will 
sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly ; 
and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure ; and no one 
knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields 
and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always 
conversing with her. 

If we can find a quality common to these three so 
very different extracts, we will be very likely to find 
in it the quality most characteristic of the mind of 
Edwards. A little consideration will show this com- 
mon quality to be the " God consciousness." It is 
because God is to him absolutely supreme that sin 
against God is to him so intolerably hateful. All 
nature is, in the second extract, conceived as the 
manifestation of God. And that which especially dis- 
tinguishes the last selection from any lover's rhapsody, 
besides the beauty and purity of thought and style, is 
the same consciousness of God, pervading every line. 

Besides sermons and pamphlets, Edwards' pub- 
lished writings, with the dates of their first appear- 
ance, are as follows : 

Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God . . . 1736 

Treatise concerning the Religious Affections 1746 

Modern Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the Will . 1754 

Treatise on Original Sin 1758 

History of Redemption ^774 



1765] Period of Preparation 55 

The awful doctrine which Edwards expressed in 
poetic prose was unconsciously caricatured by Michael Michael 
Wigglesworth in very prosaic verse. His so-called vvol?h^^' 
poem, *' The Day of Doom," was very widely read ^631-1705. 
in the old days ; but its own day of doom from the 
general public arrived long ago. 

The first verse-writer of American birth, so far 
as known, was Benjamin Thompson, of Braintree, Benjamin 

Massachusetts, one of the first masters of the Boston Thompson. 
' 1642-1714. 

Latin School. He published, in 1675, some verses 
called *' New England's Crisis," a description of King 
Philip's War. Like most of the ambitious verse of 
this period, it is written in the favorite measure 
of Pope, the rimed iambic pentameter. 

The colonial period closes with the name of 
Thomas Godfrey. He wrote the first American Thomas 
dramatic poem, which appeared in Philadelphia, f°^j^^ 
in 1765, two years after the author's death. It 
was called ''The Prince of Parthia, a Tragedy," and 
was written in blank verse, composed with consider- 
able skill ; the dialogue is spirited, and there are 
passages of real poetic quality. Godfrey shows more 
of the literary spirit, that is, the love of writing for its 
own sake, as the chosen mode of expressing one's 
self, than does any other writer of the time. The 
others are all men of affairs with whom Literature is 
secondary. But this young Philadelphian, jeweller, 
soldier, traveller, was a writer to whom other forms 
of activity were secondary. Thus, though in no 
sense great, he is to all students of our Literature a 
very important and interesting character. I give as 



56 Period of Preparation [1607 

the last selection for this period a few lines from the 
"Prince of Parthia." 

" ^^ Prince Evanthe. When I am dead, dissolved to native dust, 

of Parthia, ,- , ,- • i i 

j_g^ 1 et let me live in thy dear memory. 

One tear will not be much to give Evanthe. 

Arsaces. My eyes shall e'er two running fountains be, 
5 And wet thy urn with overflowing tears ; 

Joy ne"er again within my breast shall find 

A residence. Oh ! speak once more ! 
Evanthe. Life's just out — 

My father — Oh ! protect his honored age, 
10 And give him shelter from the storms of fate I 

He's long been fortune's sport — support me — ah! — 

I can no more — my glass is spent — farewell — 

Forever — Arsaces — Oh ! 
Arsaces. Stay I oh stay ! 
IS Or take me with thee — dead! she's cold and dead! 

Her eyes are closed I and all my joys are flown. 

Now burst ye elements from your restraint ! 

Let order cease and chaos be again. 

Break ! break I tough heart. Oh torture ! life dissolve ! 
20 Why stand ye idle 1 Have I not one friend 

To kindly free me from this pain ? One blow, 

One firiendly blow would give me ease. 

These lines show comparative ease in using the 
measure employed. Notice how in the passages of 
greatest excitement of feeling, from lines 1 1-20, the 
metrical accents correspond with the rhetorical; and 
how the broken line, 8, corresponds with the weak 
and broken utterance of the dying girl. While, his- 
torically, Godfrey's name is much less important than 
many others we have considered, he gives us, more 
than any of them, the promise of an artistic Litera- 
ture, and so with him we fittingly close one period 
of our study. 



1765] Questions 57 



QUESTIONS 

What marked differences were there between the beginnings of 
American and British history which affected strongly the begin- 
nings of Literature in the two countries? When was the Virginia 
colony founded? What were some of the chief incidents in the 
career of John Smith? Give some account of the "True Rela- 
tion." What famous story is in " The General History of Vir- 
ginia " ? What are some of the literary qualities displayed in this 
story ? What early colonial writing is associated with one of the 
plays of Shakespeare, and how? What translation of classical 
poetry was made in America during the colonial period?/ What 
was the character of the writings of Alexander Whittaker ? When 
was the Plymouth colony founded ? Who were the " Pilgrims "? 
Who were the " Puritans " ? What were some of the chief inci- 
dents in the life of William Bradford? Compare the extract 
from his writings with that from John Smith. What sort of a 
man was Thomas Morton, and what was the character of his 
book ? For what was Roger Williams famous ? What was the 
nature of John Eliot's work, and what literary monument did he 
leave?"! Give some account of the life and writings of Nathaniel 
Ward. Give some account of the life and writings of Anne Brad- 
street. When was the first college founded in America? When 
was the first book printed in America, and what was it? When 
was the first newspaper established in America? What was the 
character and influence of John Bartram? What was the nature 
of the writings of Hector St. John de Crevecoeur? Give some 
account of Sewall's Diary. Give some account of the life and of 
the writings of Increase and Cotton Mather. What was the rela- 
tion of these three men and of Robert Calef to the witchcraft 
delusion? Who was the first to prepare a popular "Almanac"? 
Give some of the particulars of the life and writings of Jonathan 
Edwards. What characteristic is found in the three extracts 
from his writings ? Who was the first writer of verse born in 
America? Who was our first dramatic poet? What are some 
of the elements of excellence in his writings ? 



CHAPTER II 

Period of the Later Eighteenth Century, 
1765-1800 

The colonial period is to be considered only as 
introductory to the history of American Literature. 
Thus far we have found but one name which de- 
serves to be recorded for the actual achievement in 
Literature for which it stands. Jonathan Edwards 
left writings which have survived, been read and 
republished for a hundred and fifty years. The 
others left writings indeed ; but they are read mainly 
for their historical interest. The men are of impor- 
tance in our early history. What they wrote is of 
importance because it illustrates them and the events 
connected with their lives. We can detect real Lit- 
erature by the fact that in its study we reverse the 
process, and read the life and history for the sake 
of illustrating the writings. The same thing is true 
in general of the period we now study. But there is 
more than one name of real interest to Literature, 
though only one name of such interest as that of 
Edwards. 

We notice in the writings of this time a growing 
independence of thought, following upon and con- 
nected with political independence. There is a 
manifest reaction from the theological type of think- 

58 



1 765-1800] Epic Verse 59 

ing of the colonial times toward Materialism. This 
is partly the reflection of the Deistic philosophy 
which was influential in all European thought dur- 
ing the eighteenth century. It took a special tone 
and quality in our country from the influence of 
the French. The Revolution naturally tended to 
weaken the influence of British thought, and as 
naturally to strengthen the influence of French 
thought, upon America. The French helped us in 
the war. French officers were popular in the social 
life of the time. It was thus inevitable that French 
thought should make itself felt. In the form of what 
was written, however, we cannot fail to notice the in- 
fluence of the so-called "classical," or Queen Anne, 
period of English Literature. Franklin's style was 
formed by close and laborious study of Addison; 
and the verse of the period was largely modelled 
upon Pope. 

One of the most popular books ever published in Jo^n 

Trumbull, 

America was Trumbull's '' McFingal." It is a satiri- 1750-1831. 
cal Epic poem, the satire being directed against the 
"Tories" of the Revolutionary War. John Trumbull 
was born in Connecticut and graduated at Yale 
College. He wrote essays in the style of the " Spec- 
tator," and verse in the classical style ; published the 
first part of "McFingal" in 1774, and the second "McFingal, 
part in 1782. The name was taken from Fingal, ^774-1782. 
the hero of " Ossian," and the general style was 
based upon that of Butler's " Hudibras." " McFin- 
gal " ran rapidly through thirty editions. The first 
part was of great influence in strengthening the 



6o Period of the Later Eighteenth Ce^itury [1765 

Whigs and discouraging the Tories. There is one 
couplet in it which has become a popular proverb, 
and which will probably always be quoted : 

No man e'er felt the halter draw, 
With good opinion of the law. 

"McFingal" is of great interest historically. It 
gives pictures of the New England town meeting ; 
of the setting up of a liberty pole ; of a riot between 
Whigs and Tories, ending in the tarring and feather- 
ing of one of the latter ; and of a secret meeting of 
Tories in a Boston cellar. We will take a passage 
for special study. 

McFINGAL, CANTO III 

When now the mob in lucky hour, 

Had got their en'mies in their pow'r, 

They first proceed by wise command, 

To take the Constable in hand ; 
5 Then from the pole's sublimest top 

They speeded to let down the rope, 

At once its other end in haste bind, 

And make it fast upon his waistband, 

Till, like the earth, as stretch'd on tenter, 
10 He hung self-balanced on his centre. 

Then upwards, all hands hoisting sail. 

They swung him, like a keg of ale, 

Till to the pinnacle so fair, 

He arose like meteor in the air. 
15 As Socrates of old at first did. 

To aid philosophy, get hoisted. 

And found his thoughts flow strangely clear. 

Swung in a basket in mid air : 

Our culprit thus in purer sky, 
20 With like advantage raised his eye ; 

And looking forth in prospect wide. 



i8oo] Epic Verse 6i 

His Tory errors clearly spy'd, 

And from his elevated station, 

With bawling voice began addressing : 
25 '•' Good gentlemen, and friends, and kin. 

For heav'n's sake hear, if not for mine! 

I here renounce the Pope, the Turks, 

The King, the Devil, and all their works ; 

And will, set me but once at ease, 
30 Turn Whig or Christian, what you please ; 

And always mind your laws as justly ; 

Should I live long as old Methus'lah, 

ril never join with British rage. 

Nor help Lord North, or General Gage, 
35 Nor lift my gun in future fights, 

Nor take away your chartered rights ; 

Nor overcome your new raised levies. 

Destroy your towns, nor burn your navies ; 

Nor cut your poles down while IVe breath, 
40 Though rais'd more thick than hatchel teeth : 

But leave King George and all his elves 

To do their conquVing work themselves." 

******* 

Not so our 'squire submits to rule, 

But stood heroic as a mule. 
45 " You'll find it all in vain," quoth he, 

" To play your rebel tricks on me. 

All punishments the world can render. 

Serve only to provoke th' offender ; 

The will's confirmed by treatment horrid, 
50 As hides grow harder when they're curried ; 

No man e'er felt the halter draw, 

With good opinion of the law ; 

Or held in method orthodox. 

His love of justice in the stocks ; 
55 Or failed to lose by sheriff's shears 

At once his loyalty and ears." 

This is a good example of what may be 
called '* mock Epic " verse. It is the rimed iambic 



62 PeiHod of the Later Eighteeiith Century [1765 

tetrameter. The famous couplet, lines 51-52, is 
perfect in form. Each line has four iambic feet ; 
and the rimes are perfect. There is an example of 
feminine rime at lines 47-48 ; and an imperfect at- 
tempt at the same in the two following lines. Other 
imperfect rimes are found in the lines 15-16, 23-24, 
25-26, 31-32, 37-38, 39-40. The last four lines of 
the selection allude to modes of punishment which 
were still practised in the colonial times, but which 
have passed out of use now. Sewall's Diary speaks 
of a criminal's ears being cut off in the court room. 
The extreme Whig feeling is satirized in lines 27-28, 
in which the Constable renounces the King along with 
Pope, Turk, and Devil. There are other allusions in 
this selection to events, customs, and characters of 
the time, which would repay study ; and the poem 
is full of such. It is probable that a hundred years 
hence " McFingal " will be more generally consid- 
ered worthy of study than it is to-day, as the histori- 
cal side gains interest with the passage of time, and 
it has sufficient artistic excellence to insure its preser- 
vation. 
Timothy A friend and fellow-student of Trumbull was 

17-2-1817. Timothy Dwight, afterwards president of Yale, and 
the grandfather of the present President Dwight. 
He published an extended meditative poem, called 
"Greenfield Hill." But he is better remembered by 
the simple but strong hymn which has made its 
place in the hearts of many, " I Love thy Kingdom, 
Lord." 

Joel Barlow was also born in Connecticut, and 



i^°oJ Lyric Verse go 

graduated from Yale College. His life was one of joei Barlow, 
great activity and usefulness. He was United States '7S4-i8i2. 
consul at Algiers, and minister to France, and died 
in Poland, having been summoned to meet Napoleon 
Bonaparte at the time of the French retreat from 
Moscow. In 1787 he published "The Vision of -vision of 
Columbus," a stately, prosy production in nine cantos ^^^^'^bus,- 
of iambic pentameter verse. The vision extends '^^^' 
over America from the equator to the north pole, 
and includes its history, from the imaginary origin of 
the native tribes, by way of Peru, Mexico, and the 
discoveries of Columbus and others, through the 
Revolution, and on into the future. In later life 
the work was enlarged and extended, the fuller ver- 
sion being published in sumptuous style, and called 
" The Columbiad." A more popular publication was 
the semi-humorous poem on New England manners, 
called -Hasty Pudding." Barlow's movements are 
always on a grand scale, and his humor even is , 
rather elephantine. J-^ 

Alexander Wilson is better remembered for his ser- Alexander 
vices to science as the first distinguished American J'^^^i^ -^ 
ornithologist, than for his literary work. But it is a '^ '^'^' 
question whether he was not more a literary man 
than a scientist. He was born in Scotland in 1766, 
and before he came to this country in 1793 had pub- 
lished a volume of poems in the Scotch dialect. One 
of his poems was ascribed to Burns, and was not 
altogether unworthy of the compliment. He became 
an enthusiastic American in his feelings, and wrote 
much in prose and verse which shows loving and 



64 Period of the Later Eighteenth Century [1765 

close observation of nature in its characteristically 
American aspects. " The Foresters " is an extended 
descriptive poem, the subject of which is a pedes- 
trian journey from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls. 
It is written in excellent rimed iambic pentameter 
lines, and has a number of passages of real poetic 
feeling. These lines from the beginning of the 
poem show the purpose of the writer, and illus- 
trate the characteristic which makes Wilson's work 
so interesting and important in the history of Ameri- 
can Literature. 

Yet Nature^s charms that bloom so lovely here, 

Unhailed arrive, unheeded disappear ; 

While bare bleak heaths, and brooks of half a mile 

Can rouse the thousand bards of Britain's Isle. 

There scarce a stream creeps down its narrow bed, 

There scarce a hillock lifts its little head, 

Or humble hamlet peeps their glades among, 

But lives and murmurs in immortal song ; 

Our western world, with all its matchless floods, 

Our vast transparent lakes and boundless woods. 

Stamped with the traits of majesty sublime, 

Unhonored weep the silent lapse of Time, 

Spread their wild grandeur to the unconscious sky. 

In sweetest seasons pass unheeded by; 

While scarce one Muse returns the songs they gave. 

Or seeks to snatch their glories from the grave. 

Lyric Verse. In general the songs of the Revolution have not 
much merit, but Hopkinson's '' Battle of the Kegs " 
was very popular, and E. P. Whipple says that it 
"laughed thousands of men into the patriot army." 

Francis jhis was Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of 

Hopkinson, . 

1737-1791. the Declaration of Independence, and a man ot great 




" ^-^p-" 




4 



i8oo] Lyric Verse 65 

prominence in public affairs. His son, Joseph Hop- Joseph 

r. 1 //^ TT '1 /^ 1 1 • >> Hopkinson, 

kinson, wrote, m 1798, the song "Hail Columbia, 1770-1842. 
which was probably our most popular national song 
until, in our own days, '' My Country, 'tis of Thee " 
was written. 

Phillis Wheatley Peters, a negro servant of Mr. phiiiis 
John Wheatley, of Boston, published, in 1773, a vol- peJ^s^^^ 
ume of poems. They are correct and smooth in ver- 1754-1784- 
sification, and the thought is elevated and not more 
prosaic than that of most of the verse of the time. 
This negro girl, born in Africa and nurtured in 
slavery, writes as good poetry, to say the least, as 
the theologian Dwight or the statesman Barlow. 

The real lyric poet of this period, however, is pwiip 
Philip Freneau, who was born in New York, gradu- ^ ^T^^\ 
ated at Princeton College, and lived in New Jersey. 
There is real music in some of his verse, and he 
finds the material for poetic thought in the simple 
objects of nature. His poetry is thus a prelude to 
that song which rang so sweet and clear in Bryant. 
The ''Wild Honeysuckle" and the "Honey Bee" 
show, in less degree, the same qualities as the 
"Fringed Gentian" and the "Waterfowl." In his 
use of Indian themes, also, Freneau shows a tend- 
ency to seek his own materials and methods of 
expression rather than copy others. One of his 
poems will repay careful study : 

THE WILD HONEYSUCKLE 

Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, 

Hid in the silent, dull retreat, 
Untouched thy honied blossoms blow, 

F 



^6 Period of the Later Eighteenth Century [1765 

Unseen thy little branches greet ; 

No roving foot shall crush thee here, 
No busy hand provoke a tear. 

By Nature's self in white arrayed, 

She bade thee shun the vulgar eye. 
And planted here the guardian shade, 
And sent soft waters murmuring by ; 
Thus quietly thy summer goes, 
Thy days declining to repose. 

Smit with those charms, that must decay, 

I grieve to see your future doom ; 
They died — nor were those flowers more gay. 
The flowers that did in Eden bloom ; 

Unpitying frosts, and Autumn's power, 
Shall leave no vestige of this flower. 

From morning suns and evening dews 

At first thy little being came ; 
If nothing once, you nothing lose, 
For when you die you are the same ; 
The space between is but an hour, 
The frail duration of a flower. 

The stanzas are simply constructed ; just six 

iambic tetrameter lines. And the rime arrangement, 

though a well-known one, shows artistic adaptation 

of form to thought. Each stanza is divided into 

two parts. One part has four lines of alternating 

rimes, and the other has two riming together. In 

each stanza this closing couplet states the thought 

suggested by the preceding quatrain. Some of the 

lines are very musical, and express the thought in 

very clear and condensed form. Notice among the 

best in these respects : 

And sent soft waters murmuring by. 
Thy days declining to repose. 
The frail duration of a flower. 



i8oo] Lyric Verse. Dramatic Verse. Prose 6/ 

The third stanza seems somewhat prosaic compared 

with the others. It states too fully ideas that would 

be better expressed if simply suggested. There is 

an anticlimax in the line " Unpitying frosts, and 

Autumn's power," the last words being obviously 

introduced for the sake of the rime. Altogether the 

poem would be more complete without this stanza. 

But there is far more to praise than to blame in this 

little poem. The lines are perfect, the rimes are 

true, and the thought is genuinely poetic. 

Dramatic Literature has two names of interest dur- The Drama. 

ing this period. The first American play put upon 

the stage was a comedy, called " The Contrast," 

written by Royall Tyler, and produced in New York 1758-1826.^^' 

in 1786. William Dunlap, who has a stronger claim wiiiiam 

to memory as a painter and as the founder of the Duniap, 

. 1766-1839. 

National Academy of Design, wrote a number of 

plays. Among them, ''Leicester" enjoys the dis- 
tinction of being the first American tragedy pre- 
sented upon the stage. 

The prose writings of this period are of far more Prose Narra- 
importance than those in verse, and we have some ^^°"' 
interesting examples of narrative writing. Hannah Hannah 
Adams published, in 1799, a "History of New Eng- 1755-1832. 
land"; and the great jurist, John Marshall, issued John 
his " Life of Washington," which will always be a j^rZiLq. 
standard biography of the great first President. A 
work of a much lower grade measured by the stand- 
ard of the best historical writing, but of great interest 
nevertheless, is the gossipy "Life of Washington," MasonLocke 

Weems, 

by Mason Locke Weems. It is this book which has 1760-1825. 



6S Period of the Later Eighteenth Century [1765 

preserved for us a number of such incidents as the 

famous hatchet story. 
Benjamin Reference has been already made to Benjamin 

born in"' FrankHu. His is the one name in this period of 
Boston, 1706; equal interest from a literary standpoint with that 

died in '' 

Philadelphia, of Jonathan Edwards. Many would say that his 
^''^°* name is of much the greater interest. Indeed, not 

a few good judges would say that, on the whole, 
Benjamin Franklin is the greatest man whom Amer- 
ica has produced. He was born in Boston in 1706. 
He learned the printer's trade with an older brother, 
and in 1723 went to Philadelphia. He obtained em- 
ployment as a printer, and attracted the attention of 
the governor. Sir William Keith, who made him such 
promises as to induce him to go to London. Keith's 
promises all failed, and Franklin was thrown entirely 
upon his own resources; but he obtained employ- 
ment at his trade, and made the acquaintance of some " 
well-known men. In 1726 he returned to Philadel- 
phia. In 1729 he became proprietor of the ''Penn- 
sylvania Gazette," and from that time his influence 
and reputation grew rapidly. He founded a club 
called "The Junto," out of which grew the ** Penn- 
sylvania Philosophical Society." He founded the 
Philadelphia Library, and a school which developed 
into the University of Pennsylvania. He invented 
a stove ; and discovered the fact that lightning is 
the effect of electricity. He was made Deputy 
Postmaster-General of the colonies ; and made the 
postal service self-supporting. He was a prominent 
figure in colonial politics. He was largely instru- 



i8oo] Prose. Narration 6g 

mental in bringing the colonies together in the Con- 
federation which made it possible to successfully 
resist the measures of the British Parliament. He 
went to England as the representative of the colony 
of Pennsylvania in 1757; and afterwards was chosen 
to be the agent in England of Massachusetts, New 
Jersey, and Georgia. He labored earnestly to prevent 
a separation between the colonies and England ; but 
after the events of the spring of 1775, which made 
separation inevitable, he became a zealous supporter 
of the war, and an advocate of independence. He 
was one of the committee with Jefferson to draw 
up the famous Declaration. His services were inval- 
uable in securing and maintaining the alliance with 
France to which the success of the Revolution was 
largely due; and he had an important part in the 
making of the treaty of peace in 1783. This rapid 
review of his career may serve to show how wide was 
the reach of his mental powers, and how eminently 
practical was the bent of his genius ; qualities which 
are abundantly illustrated in his writings. His works 
include a great variety of state papers, of articles 
for newspaper publication, of scientific discussions 
and lectures ; besides the two works by which he is 
best known. These, by the date of their appearing, 
would belong to the previous period ; but Franklin 
belongs historically to the time of the Revolution, 
and it therefore seems best to discuss his writings 
here. 

Probably the most popular of all his publications "Poor 
was " Poor Richard's Almanac," which appeared 



70 Period of the Later EigJUeentJi Century [1765 

first in 1732. It is filled with pithy proverbial say- 
ings, and useful information. The work, however, 
"Autobi- by which he is now best known as a writer, was not 
ogiap y. intended at first for publication. It is his "Autobi- 
ography," written for his son. This has been published 
a great many times and very widely read. It gives 
an account of his early life, down to the year 1757, 
when he went to England as a commissioner for the 
colony of Pennsylvania. John Bigelow prepared 
an edition of this with a selection of Franklin's let- 
ters and other papers, giving almost his whole life in 
his own words. Of the two selections given below 
the first describes his arrival in Philadelphia, and the 
second gives us a hint as to how he secured his ex- 
cellent English style. 

I was in my working dress, my best cloathes being to 
come around by sea. I was dirty from my journey ; my 
pockets were stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and I 
knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. I was fatigued 
with travelling, rowing and want of rest, I was very hungry ; 
and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar, 
and about a shilling in copper. The latter I gave the peo- 
ple of the boat for my passage, who at first refused it, on 
account of my rowing ; but I insisted on their taking it. A 
man being sometimes more generous when he has but a 
little money than when he has plenty, perhaps through fear 
of being thought to have but little. 

Then I walked up the street, gazing about till near the 
market-house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a 
meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I went immedi- 
ately to the baker's he directed me to, in Second-street, and 
asked for bisket, intending such as we had in Boston ; but they, 



i8oo] Narration. Biography yi 

it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for 
a threepenny loaf, and was told they had none such. So not 
considering or knowing the difference of money, and the 
greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I bad him give 
me three pennyworth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, 
three great puffy rolls. I was surpriz'd at the quantity, but 
took it, and having no room in my pockets, walked off with 
a roll under each arm, and eating the other. Thus I went 
up Market-street as far as Fourth-street, passing by the 
door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father ; when she, 
standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I 
certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. 
Then I turned and went down Chestnut-street and part 
of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the way, and, coming 
round, found myself again at Market-street wharf, near 
the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught of the 
river water ; and, being filled with one of my rolls, gave 
the other two to a woman and her child that came down 
the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to go 
farther. 

The great excellence of this little bit of narrative 
is in its clearness. There is not a word wasted ; and 
neither is there a word wanting to make the picture 
perfectly clear. We can see the queer figure with 
the pockets stuffed out, a roll under each arm, and 
we can see Miss Read smile as she catches her first 
glimpse of the grotesque form which was to be so 
honored by her and many others in the years to 
come. This vividness is gained by selecting the de- 
tails which make the picture clear, and omitting a 
hundred others which an unskilful writer would have 
given. A good deal of the effect is due to the sim- 
plicity of the style. There are very few long words 



^2 Period of the Later Eightee?iih Century [1765 

or words of Latin origin. The passage is largely 
composed of short, homely Saxon words, suited to 
the subject. The following extract will illustrate 
the same qualities, and will help us to see how 
they are secured. It is from an earlier part 
of the ''Autobiography," referring to the time when 
he was working in his brother's printing office in 
Boston. 

About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spec- 
tator. It was the third. I had never before seen any of 
them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much 
dehghted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and 
wished, if possible, to imitate it. With that view, I took 
some of the papers, and making short hints of the senti- 
ment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, 
without looking at the book, tr}^'d to compleat the papers 
again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as 
fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words 
that should come to hand. Then I compared my Spectator 
with the original, discovered some of my faults, and cor- 
rected them. But I found I wanted a stock of words, or a 
readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought I 
should have acquired before that time if I had gone on 
making verses ; since the continual occasion for words of 
the same import, but of different length, to suit the measure, 
or of different sound for the rhyme, would have laid me 
under a constant necessity of searching for variety, and 
also have tended to fix that variety in my mind, and make 
me master of it. Therefore I took some of the tales and 
turned them into verse ; and, after a time, when I had 
pretty well forgotten the prose, turned them back again. 
I also sometimes jumbled my collection of hints into con- 
fusion, and after some weeks endeavored to reduce them 



i8oo] Prose. Narration. Biography 73 

into the best order, before I began to form the full sentences 
and compleat the paper. This was to teach me method 
in the arrangement of thoughts. By comparing my work 
afterwards with the original, I discovered many faults 
and amended them ; but I sometimes had the pleasure of 
fancying that, in certain particulars of small import, I had 
been lucky enough to improve the method or the language, 
and this encouraged me to think I might possibly in time 
come to be a tolerable English writer, of which I was 
extreamly ambitious. 

A good exercise for any one who has Franklin's 
ambition in this respect, would be to take Franklin's 
" Autobiography " and use it as he used the *' Spec- 
tator." 

A very different autobiography, but one as excel- 
lent in its way as Franklin's, is that of John Wool- John 
man. Woolman was a New Jersey Friend, or i^^j.^ in New 
Quaker, who, in 1742, was impressed with the wrons^ Jersey, 1720; 
of human slavery, and devoted his life to the work England, 
of persuading the " Society of Friends " to make ^^^^' 
slave-holding inconsistent with membership. His 
journal is a beautiful example of autobiography. It 
is a simple and clear expression of one of the finest 
spirits that ever lived. Charles Lamb wrote once, 
"Get the writings of John Woolman by heart." 
And John G. Whittier prepared an edition of the 
journal with an introduction by himself which was 
published^ in 1871. I give a brief extract from 
this edition, page 224 : 

1 By Fields, Osgood & Co., now Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



74 Period of the Later Eighteenth Century [1765 

Eleventh of sixth month, 1769. — There have been sundry 
cases of late years within the limits of our Monthly Meeting, 
respecting the exercising of pure righteousness towards the 
negroes, in which I have hved under a labor of heart that 
equity might be steadily preserved. On this account I have 
had some close exercises among Friends, in which, I may 
thankfully say, I find peace. And as my meditations have 
been on universal love, my own conduct in time past be- 
came of late very grievous to me. As persons setting 
negroes free in our province are bound by law to maintain 
them in case they have need of relief, some in the time of 
my youth who scrupled to keep slaves for term of life were 
wont to detain their young negroes in their service without 
wages till they were thirty years of age. With this custom 
I so far agreed that being joined with another Friend in ex- 
ecuting the will of a deceased Friend, I once sold a negro 
lad till he might attain the age of thirty years, and applied 
the money to the use of the estate. 

With abasement of heart I may now say that sometimes 
as I have sat in a meeting with my heart exercised towards 
that awful Being who respecteth not persons nor colors, and 
have thought upon this lad, I have felt that all was not clear 
in my mind respecting him ; and as I have attended to this 
exercise and fervently sought the Lord, it hath appeared to 
me that I should make some restitution ; but in what way I 
saw not till lately, when being under some concern that I 
might be resigned to go on a visit to some part of the West 
Indies, and under close engagement of spirit seeking to the 
Lord for counsel herein, the aforesaid transaction came 
heavily upon me, and my mind for a time was covered with 
darkness and sorrow. Under this sore affliction my mind 
was softened to receive instruction, and I now first perceived 
that as I had been one of the two executors who had sold 
this lad for nine years longer than is common for our own 
children to serve, so I should now offer part of my substance 



i8oo] Prose. Nai'ration. Biography 75 

to redeem the last half of the nine years ; but as the time 
was not yet come, I executed a bond, binding myself and 
my executors to pay the man to whom he was sold what to 
candid men might appear equitable for the last four and a 
half years of his time, in case the said youth should be 
Hving, and in a condition likely to provide comfortably for 
himself. 

If the last selection from Franklin might be called 
mental biography, this should be named the biog- 
raphy of a soul. The tenderness of conscience re- 
vealed is joined with a careful accuracy in planning 
to make exactly the restitution due, no more and no 
less, which is very characteristic. He shows that, 
unlike some reformers, he is as concerned for his own 
misdeeds as for those of others. The Quaker habit 
of thought appears in almost every line, though as 
it happens there is scarcely any occasion in this , 
selection for the use of the Quaker speech. ^ 

In this period belongs our first important writer of 
fiction. Charles Brockden Brown lived and wrote charies 
in Philadelphia. He studied law, but abandoned it BrowJf^bom 

for Literature. He is the first American to make J" Philadel- 
phia, 1771 ; 
Literature actually the chief occupation of his life, died, isio. 

His works of fiction belong to the class of Ro- 
mances. They are generally stories of improbable 
adventures and extraordinary characters. He had a 
powerful imagination ; and his leading characters are 
strongly and impressively drawn. He wrote, however, 
too rapidly for the best results. His stories are rather 
clumsily constructed and he lacks delicacy of touch 
and fineness of finish. His principal works are : 



^6 Period of the Later Eighteeiith Century [1765 

Wieland. or the Transformation 1798 

Ormond. or the Secret Witness 1799 

Arthur Mer\-yn 1 799-1 800 

Jane Talbot 1801 

Edgar Huntley 1801 

Clara Howard 1801 

The dates show the rapidity with which Brown 
produced his romances. Six books within four years ; 
Arthur and the last three issued in the same year. "Arthur 

Mervyn"' has special historical interest, as it has for 
the background of its pictures of life the terrible 
yellow fever plague at Philadelphia in 1793. It has 
scenes of great power and shows some dramatic 
force ; but like the other writings of Brown, it is 
hurriedly and loosely constructed. It lacks losrical 
connection between its events. The actions are 
improbable ; which, in a romance, they may properly 
be. But they also seem improbable, which is a fatal 
defect ; that is, Brown does not succeed in throwing 
around the strange events he records that atmos- 
phere of reality which characterizes the work of the 
great romancers. 

As Brown stands at the head of our long hne of 
excellent writers of fiction, a short extract from 
one of his books is given, if only that we may 
have something with which to compare the better 
work of later times. The following paragraphs are 
from the description of the plague-stricken city, in 
Chapter XV of *' Arthur Merv}m " : 

In proportion as I drew near the city, the tokens of its 
calamitous condition became more apparent. Every farm- 



i8oo] Prose. Narration. Fictio7t J J 

house was filled with supernumerary tenants, fugitives from 
home, and haunting the skirts of the road, eager to detain 
every passenger with inquiries after news. The passengers 
were numerous ; for the tide of emigration was by no means 
exhausted. Some were on foot, bearing in their counte- 
nances the tokens of their recent terror, and filled with 
mournful reflections on the forlornness of their state. Few 
had secured to themselves an asylum ; some were without 
the means of paying for victuals or lodging for the coming 
night; others, who were not thus destitute, yet knew not 
whither to apply for entertainment, every house being already 
overstocked with inhabitants, or barring its inhospitable doors 
at their approach. 

Famihes of weeping mothers and dismayed children, at- 
tended with a few pieces of indispensable furniture, were 
carried in vehicles of every form. The parent or husband 
had perished ; and the price of some movable, or the pit- 
tance handed forth by public charity, had been expended 
to purchase the means of retiring from this theatre of dis- 
asters, though uncertain and hopeless of accommodation in 
the neighboring districts. 

Between these and the fugitives whom curiosity had led 
to the road, dialogues frequently took place, to which I was 
suffered to listen. From every mouth the tale of sorrow 
was repeated with new aggravations. Pictures of their own 
distress, or of that of their neighbors, were exhibited in all 
the hues which imagination can annex to pestilence and 

poverty. 

******* 

The sun had nearly set before I reached the precincts of 
the city. I pursued the track which I had formerly taken, 
and entered High Street after nightfall. Instead of equi- 
pages and a throng of passengers, the voice of levity and glee, 
which I had formerly observed, and which the mildness of 
the season would, at other times, have produced, I found 
nothing but a dreary solitude. 



yS Period of the Later EigJiteeiith Century [1765 

The market-place, and each side of this magnificent 
avenue, were illuminated, as before, by lamps; but between 
the verge of Schltlkill and the heart of the city, I met 
not more than a dozen figures ; and these were ghostlike, 
wrapped in cloaks, from behind which they cast upon me 
glances of wonder and suspicion, and, as I approached, 
changed their course, to avoid touching me. Their clothes 
were sprinkled with vinegar, and their nostrils defended 
from contagion by some powerful perfume. 

I cast a look upon the houses, which I recollected to have 
formerly been, at this hour, brilliant with lights, resounding 
with lively voices, and thronged with busy faces. Now they 
were closed, above and below ; dark, and without tokens of 
being inhabited. From the upper windows of some, a gleam 
sometimes fell upon the pavement I was traversing, and 
showed that their tenants had not fled, but were secluded or 
disabled. 

These tokens were new, and awakened all my panics. 
Death seemed to hover over this scene, and I dreaded that 
the floating pestilence had already lighted on my frame. 
I had scarcely overcome these tremors, when I approached 
a house the door of which was opened, and before which 
stood a vehicle, which I presently recognized to be a hearse. 

The driver was seated on it. I stood still to mark his 
visage, and to observe the course which he proposed to take. 
Presently a coffin, borne by two men, issued from the house. 
The driver was a negro ; but his companions were white. 
Their features were marked by ferocious indifl"erence to 
danger or pity. One of them, as he assisted in thrusting 
the coffin into the cavity provided for it, said, " I'll be d — d 
if I think the poor dog was quite dead. It wasn't the fever 
that ailed him, but the sight of the girl and her mother on 
the floor. I wonder how they all got into that room. What 
carried them there ? " 

The other surlily muttered, "Their legs, to-be-sure." 

*' But what should they hug together in one room for? " 



i8oo] Prose. Narration. Fiction 79 

"To save us trouble, to-be-sure." 

" And I thank them with all my heart ; but d — it, it wasn't 
right to put him in his coffin before the breath was fairly- 
gone. I thought the last look he gave me told me to stay 
a few minutes." 

" Pshaw ! he could not live. The sooner dead the better 
for him ; as well as for us. Did you mark how he eyed us 
when we carried away his wife and daughter ? I never cried 
in my life, since I was knee high, but curse me if I ever felt 
in better tune for the business than just then. Hey ! " con- 
tinued he, looking up, and observing me standing a few paces 
distant, and listening to their discourse; "what's wanted? 
Anybody dead? " 

I stayed not to answer or parley, but hurried forward. 
My joints trembled, and cold drops stood on my forehead. 
I was ashamed of my own infirmity ; and, by vigorous efforts 
of my reason, regained some degree of composure. The 
evening had now advanced, and it behoved me to procure 
accommodation at some of the inns. 

Notice, in the plan of this description, three main 
elements. First it is skilfully introduced, by the 
approach to the city, gradually preparing the reader 
for the terrible scenes to be related later. Then 
contrast is effectively employed, by reminding the 
reader of the former visit, when everything was 
cheerful and prosperous ; and finally the most ter- 
rible features of the situation, especially the brutaliz- 
ing effect upon character, are very vividly brought out 
by the conversation of the men who are removing 
the bodies. The chief defect of the style, as com- 
pared with De Foe's ** Description of the Plague in 
London," for example, is a rather turgid diction in 
some places ; such phrases as '* magnificent avenue " 



8o Period of the Later Eighteenth Century [1765 



Exposition. 



Thomas 

JeflFerson, 

1743-1826. 



and "the pavement I was traversing,' for instance, 
savoring somewhat of rhetorical "fine writing." 

During the Revolutionary War and the years im- 
mediately following, when the Constitution was under 
discussion and our o^overnment in process of forma- 
tion, most of the greatest minds were absorbed in 
public affairs. There is a large body of important 
and interesting writings which may be classified as 
Exposition. Articles were prepared for the journals, 
and state papers were written by different public 
men of the time. Among these two great documents 
ought to be familiar to every American : the Declara- 
tion of Independence, prepared by a committee of 
the Continental Congress, but whose original draft — 
which was verv slisfhtlv altered — was written bv 
Thomas Jefferson : and the Farewell Address to the 
American people by George Washington. These, 
however, belong to the political rather than the liter- 
ary history of our country. 

Jefferson left a large body of writings, mostly 
political in their character, but informed with a 
markedly scholarly, if not strictly literary, quality. 
Some of his utterances have a fine proverbial terse- 
ness and force. Such, for example, is the famous 
saying which embodies a large part of his political 
philosophy : " It is error alone which needs the sup- 
port of government; truth can stand by itself." His 
sendees to education were invaluable. He devised a 
complete system, beginning with primary instruction 
and completed in the great University of Virginia. A 
selected edition of the works of this great statesman, 



i8oo] Prose. Exposition 8 1 

making accessible that part of his writings which be- 
longs to Literature, is one of the much-to-be-desired 
things which we do not yet possess. 

In the discussions which preceded and led to the 
Declaration of Independence, one of the most popular 
and influential writers was Thomas Paine. He was Thomas 
born in England, but came to this country at the sug- 17^37^^809. 
gestion of Franklin. He published "Common Sense" 
in 1776. It was a pamphlet giving the arguments 
for independence, and had great influence. '* The 
Crisis " was published at intervals during the war, 
and was also very popular. It contains the famous 
line, "These are the times that try men's souls." 
Later, Paine went to France, and took a creditable 
part in the French Revolution. The " Rights of 
Man " was a reply to Burke's " Reflections on the 
French Revolution." The "Age of Reason" was a 
discussion of religious questions from a Deistic point 
of view. 

When the Constitution had been prepared by the 
Convention in 1787, it was submitted to the people 
for ratification. There was a great deal of opposi- 
tion to it, and its adoption or rejection seems to 
have depended upon New York, where the people 
were divided in opinion. Therefore, three of the 
ablest men of the time prepared and published 
anonymously a series of papers explaining and de- 
fending the different provisions of the proposed Con- 
stitution. These papers were afterward collected in 



The 
ede 

one desires to understand the intention of the provi- 1787. 



a volume called "The Federalist." To this day if any 

^ ^ Federalist." 



82 Period of the Latei' Eight eeiith Centnry [1765 

sions of the Constitution, the best thing he can do is 
to study "The FederaHst." The authors were John 
Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. It 
is not known with absolute certainty what is the 
authorship of all the papers, but Chancellor Kent's 
assignment is probably not far from right. Of the 
eighty-five papers he ascribes five to Jay, thirty to 
Madison, and fifty to Hamilton. 
Alexander As an example of this form of writing, take some 

1757-1804. sentences from ''The Federalist," No. 69, on the 
office of President, by Alexander Hamilton. 

There is an idea, which is not without its advocates, that 
a vigorous Executive is inconsistent with the genius of re- 
publican Government. The enlightened well-wishers to this 
species of Government must at least hope that the sup- 
position is destitute of foundation ; since they can never 
admit its truth, without, at the same time, admitting the 
condemnation of their own principles. Energy in the 
Executive is a leading character in the definition of 
good Government. It is essential to the protection of 
the community against foreign attacks ; it is not less 
essential to the steady administration of the laws ; to the 
protection of property against those irregular and high- 
handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordi- 
nary course of justice ; to the security of liberty against 
the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of 
anarchy. Every man, the least conversant in Roman story, 
knows how often that Republic was obliged to take refuge in 
the absolute power of a single man, under the formidable 
title of Dictator, as well against the intrigues of ambitious 
individuals, who aspired to the tyranny, and the seditions of 
whole classes of the community, whose conduct threatened 
the existence of all government, as against the invasions of 



i8oo] Prose. Exposition 83 

external enemies, who menaced the conquest and destruction 
of Rome. 

There can be no need, however, to multiply arguments or 
examples on this head. A feeble Executive imphes a feeble 
execution of the Government. A feeble execution is but 
another phrase for a bad execution ; and a Government ill 
executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in prac- 
tice, a bad Government. 

Taking it for granted, therefore, that all men of sense will 
agree in the necessity of an energetic Executive, it will only 
remain to inquire, what are the ingredients, which constitute 
this energy? How far can they be combined with those 
other ingredients which constitute safety in the republican 
sense ? And how far does this combination characterize the 
plan which has been reported by the Convention ? 

The ingredients which constitute energy in the Executive 
are, first, unity ; secondly, duration ; thirdly, an adequate 
provision for its support ; fourthly, competent powers. 

The ingredients which constitute safety in the republican 
sense are, first, a due dependence on the People ; secondly, 
a due responsibility. 

The quality v^^hich impresses a careful student of 
this bit of exposition is the same which we noticed 
in Franklin's "Autobiography"; namely, clearness. 
There is no possibility of an intelligent mind misunder- 
standing Hamilton's thought. This quality, however, 
is secured by very different means. The proportion 
of long words and words of Latin derivation is much 
larger. This is made necessary by the subject. 
Government was the great gift of the Romans to the 
world ; and, therefore, whenever we discuss govern- 
ment we necessarily use words of Latin origin. But 
in this selection the words are never needlessly long 



84 Period of the Later Eighteenth Century [1765 



Benjamin 

Rush, 

1745-1813. 

Samuel 

Hopkins, 

1721-1803. 



Alexander 
Wilson. 



Webster's 
Spelling 
Book, 1784. 



or unfamiliar. They are always clearly adapted to 
the idea to be expressed. The sentences are admir- 
ably formed for clearness. Notice the succession of 
clauses about the disadvantage of a feeble executive. 
They are short, balanced, with just enough repetition 
of important words to carry the mind easily on from 
one thought to another, and aid in keeping the 
connection clear. **The Federalist" is perhaps the 
best example in our Literature of this type of com- 
position. 

Other authors of this class who ought to be noticed 
are the following : Benjamin Rush was a Philadelphia 
physician, who published, in 1798, "Essays, Literary, 
•Moral, and Philosophical." Samuel Hopkins, of 
Newport, Rhode Island, was a leading theological 
writer of the time, and a pioneer in the antislavery 
contest. His character is beautifully portrayed in 
Mrs. Stowe's novel, "The Minister's Wooing." 
Alexander Wilson, who has been already men- 
tioned, was a close friend of William Bartram, the 
son of John Bartram, and shared their enthusiasm 
in scientific research. Wilson's specialty was " bird- 
lore," and the work by which he is best known is his 
" Ornithology," especially interesting as one of the 
earliest examples of the literary record of the study 
of nature, which later became so important a part of 
our American prose. 

Two books appeared during this period which are 
difficult to classify as Literature, but which have had 
great influence upon all writers since both in Eng- 
land and America. One is Noah Webster's Spelling 



i8oo] Prose, Dilatory 85 

Book, which was published in 1784, and of which it 
is said that sixty-two miUion copies have been sold. 
Its sales largely supported Mr. Webster while he was Webster's 

1 . 1 -r>v- • 1-1 1 Dictionary, 

working upon the great Dictionary, which appeared 1828. 
in 1828. The other is Lindley Murray's English Murray's 
Grammar, which was published in York, England, in - 
1795. Murray was born in this country, and lived 
here till 1 784, when he went to England, and it was 
there that his literary work was done. His English 
Grammar was used in all schools in England and the 
United States for a number of years, and has there- 
fore had an incalculable effect upon the use of the 
English language. 

Such a period as that which we are now studying Oratory, 
would be sure to develop oratory. During the Rev- 
olution and the times just preceding, James Otis, 
Samuel Adams, and John Adams were preeminent 
orators in Massachusetts, and Patrick Henry in Vir- Patrick 
ginia. Probably the last named has left the most 1736-1799. 
effective specimen of political oratory that remains 
from this period. Some of his sentences, such as 
"If that be treason, make the most of it," ''Give 
me liberty or give me death," have become house- 
hold words. In the latter part of the period the 
most distinguished political orator was Fisher Ames; Fisher Ames, 
whom Mr. E. P. Whipple calls a "razeed Edmund ^^^ 
Burke." We have a brilliant example of the foren- 
sic orator in William Wirt, who was born in Mary- William 
land, and lived in that state, and in Virginia and the 1772-1834. 
District of Columbia. His most famous address was 
the argument in the trial of Aaron Burr. 



S6 Period of the Later EighteeiitJi Century [1765 

As an example of the oratory of the time, study a 
brief extract from an address by Fisher Ames on the 
character of Washington. 

It is indeed almost as difficult to draw his character as 
the portrait of virtue. The reasons are similar ; our ideas 
of moral excellence are obscure, because they are complex, 
and we are obliged to resort to illustrations. Washington's 
example is the happiest to show what virtue is ; and to de- 
lineate his character we naturally expatiate on the beauty of 
virtue ; much must be felt and much imagined. His pre- 
eminence is not so much to be seen in the display of any 
one virtue as in the possession of them all, and in the prac- 
tice of the most difficult. Hereafter, therefore, his char- 
acter must be studied before it will be striking ; and then 
it will be admitted as a model, a precious one to a free 
republic. 

It is no less difficult to speak of his talents. They were 
adapted to lead, without dazzling, mankind ; and to draw 
forth and employ the talents of others, without being misled 
by them. In this he was certainly superior, that he neither 
mistook nor misappHed his own. His great modesty and 
reserve would have concealed them, if great occasions had 
not called them forth ; and then, as he never spoke from 
the affectation to shine, nor acted from any sinister motives, 
it is from their effects only that we are to judge of their 
greatness and extent. In public trusts, where men, acting 
conspicuously, are cautious, and in those private concerns 
where few conceal or resist their weaknesses, Washington 
was uniformly great, pursuing right conduct from right 
maxims. His talents were such as assist a sound judg- 
ment, and ripen with it. His prudence was consum- 
mate, and seemed to take the direction of his powers 
and passions ; for as a soldier, he was more solicitous to 
avoid mistakes that might be fatal, than to perform exploits 



i8oo] Questions 8/ 

that are brilliant ; and as a statesman, to adhere to just 
principles, however old, than to pursue novelties ; and 
therefore, in both characters, his qualities were singularly 
adapted to the interest, and were tried in the greatest 
perils, of the country. 

The most striking characteristic of this passage is 
the smoothness of the sentences, caused largely by 
the careful balancing of phrases and clauses. The 
even, balanced character v^hich he ascribes to Wash- 
ington is reflected in the even, balanced style of the 
rhetoric. There is nothing to startle or to arouse 
and compel attention. But the language is clear, 
strong, and well chosen for the expression of the 
thought. There is no use of ornamental or of figu- 
rative language. In this respect the style is severe. 
The use of v^ords shows no special preference for 
Saxon or for Latin derivatives. The passage cannot 
be called eloquent, but one can hardly fail to perceive 
that it is clear and forcible. 

QUESTIONS 

What are some of the general characteristics of this period ? 
Give some of the events in the life of John Trumbull. What 
are some of the general characteristics of " McFingal " ? In 
what kind of verse is it written ? Give some instances of 
"feminine rime." Point out some imperfect rimes. What 
historical references and allusions in this extract ? What 
were some of the writings in verse of President Dwight ? 
Give some of the chief facts of the life of Joel Barlow. 
Describe " The Vision of Columbus " and " The Columbiad." 
What else did Barlow write ? What is the point of peculiar 
interest in Alexander Wilson's poems ? To which of the 
three great divisions of poetry do the examples thus far 
given belong, and why ? Who were some of the earliest lyric 



88 Period of the Later Eighteenth Ceiitury [i 765-1 800 

poets ? Who was the author of '* Hail Columbia '' ? Give some 
account of Philip Freneau as a lyric poet. Criticise the "Wild 
Honeysuckle."' Mention some of the best lines, and explain why 
they are more pleasing than others. Who are our two earliest 
dramatic writers in this period ? Name some of the earliest 
writers of history and biography. Where was Benjamin Frank- 
lin born, and what was his earliest occupation ? In what city 
did he spend the greater part of his life ? Give some account of 
his services to science and education. What were his chief 
political achievements ? N What was "Poor Richard"? What 
are some of the striking qualities of the style of the first extract 
from the -Autobiography"? What does the second extract 
reveal as to his methods of study ? How does the extract from 
Woolman compare with that from Franklin ? Give some ac- 
count of our first novelist. What are the names of some of 
his books ? What are the three main elements of construction 
in the selection from Brown ? What two great political docu- 
ments of this period; and who were their authors? What is 
Jefferson's great gift to education ? Give some account of the 
works of Thomas Paine. What was ** The Federalist "" ? Who 
were its authors ? Criticise the extract as exposition. Mention 
other writers in this class. What two famous school books 
of this period ? Mention some of the distinguished orators. 
Criticise the extract from Fisher Ames. 



PART TWO 

PERIOD OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH 
CENTURY, 1800-1850 



CHAPTER III 

Period of the Early Nineteenth Century, 
I 800-1 850 

VERSE 

The time of experiment is over. The nation is 
made. The Constitution has been adopted. The 
place of the United States among the other nations of 
the world has been made good. Years of peace and 
comparative commercial prosperity make possible 
the devotion of lives to literary work. The intermi- 
nable theological disquisitions of the colonial period 
are not repeated now ; but vigorous theological dis- 
cussion and strong practical religious thinking find 
expression in Literature of a high type. The political 
thought of the time is directed to questions of prac- 
tical government. The national mind is gaining 
repose and dignity. There is a consciousness of 
growing strength, combined with the uneasiness 
due to the newness of our national existence. The 
bird of freedom sometimes soared very high and 
the rooster of Democracy sometimes crowed very 
loudly. The faults so severely satirized by Dickens 
in the "American Notes" and in ''Martin Chuzzle- 
wit " were unquestionably conspicuous in the life of 
the time; and we find them noted and rebuked by 

91 



92 Period of the Early Ninetee^ith Century [1800 



some of our own writers. But, on the other hand, 
the national virtues of enterprise, energy, and gen- 
erosity are equally evident. The great question of 
slavery already troubled the minds of public men ; 
but the effort on all hands was to keep it out of 
national politics. The discussions as to compromise 
measures on this topic, and as to the relation of the 
state governments to the national government, and 
the closely connected questions of tariff, currency, 
and internal improvements, developed a group of 
political orators of unparalleled brilliancy. There is 
a dawning interest in scientific study ; and the obser- 
vations of scientific workers are recorded during the 
period, in two instances, by writers of genius. Our 
notable line of historians has its beginning in this 
period. Also we have a group of real novelists ; 
writers whose books are of interest for their own 
sakes. We find now a considerable class of men 
devoting their whole time to literary pursuits ; and 
therefore we can say that there are now Ameri- 
can men of letters. Poets, in considerable numbers. 
Epic Verse, write with real music and with true imagination ; and 
in two instances touch a very high note in the poetic 
scale. 

Of the poets of this period the first name that 
Richard we Consider is that of Richard Henry Dana. He 
itSv-'iSvo"^' ^^s ^^^ ^^ ^ notable family, four generations of 
which gained distinction in American public life. 
Like most of the writers of the previous period, 
Dana was first a man of affairs — a distinguished 
lawyer — and secondarily a literary man. He was 



1850] Epic Verse 93 

associated with the founding and early history of the 
" North American Review," and some of his first 
writings appeared in that journal. He published 
essays on critical topics — being one of the first to 
recognize the genius of Wordsworth — and two nov- 
els. His verse, however, is his most important con- 
tribution to Literature. It is good, but not great. 
It is verse of the kind that the critics praise, but the 
general public does not read. He published a vol- 
ume of "Poems" in 1827; "Poems and Prose Writ- 
ings" in 1833; "The Buccaneer, and Other Poems" 
in 1844. "The Buccaneer" is written with spirit 
and in strong and correct verse ; but it has not held 
the attention of the public, and it fails in the musical 
quality of the best poetry. 

Joseph Rodman Drake is one of the most interest- Joseph 
ing personalities in our early Literature. He cannot ^^^^^ 
be called a great poet ; but he had the poet's feeling born in New 

York, 1795 I 

for musical sound and for the beauty of nature, and died, 1820. 
he had a delicate gift of expression. Moreover, he 
loved Literature. He and his friend Halleck were 
lovers of Burns and Campbell, and their poetry shows 
the influence of these poets. But there is an original 
strain of music in both of them. Drake's best-known 
pieces are the "American Flag" and "The Culprit 
Fay." The last is our first important narrative poem. 
There is a story that some one in conversation with 
Drake asserted the impossibility of writing a readable 
composition on a supernatural or fairy topic, without 
introducing human characters, and that the poem was 
written partly for the purpose of proving the contrary. 



94 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

The offence of the culprit Fay is that he has loved a 
mortal maiden ; but the mortal never appears on the 
scene. The poem is a graceful, tender, fanciful story 
in verse. It gives beautiful pictures of the scenery 
of the Hudson Highlands. It well deserves all the 
popularity it ever received. It is possible that Drake 
might not have written anything better if he had 
lived longer; but as he was only twenty-two years 
old when this was published, one cannot help feeling 
that later years might have given us greater things, 
and that American Literature suffered a severe loss 
in his early death. 

THE CULPRIT FAY. OPENING LINES 

'Tis the middle watch of a summer's night — 
The earth is dark, but the heavens are bright ; 

Naught is seen in the vault on high 

But the moon, and the stars, and the cloudless sky, 

5 And the flood which rolls its milky hue, 
A river of light on the welkin blue. 

The moon looks down on old Cronest, 

She mellows the shades on his shaggy breast, 

And seems his huge gray form to throw 
10 In a silver cone on the wave below ; 

His sides are broken by spots of shade, 
By the walnut bough and the cedar made. 

And through their clustering branches dark 
Glimmers and dies the fire-fly's spark — 

15 Like starry twinkles that momently break. 

Through the rifts of the gathering tempest's rack. 

These lines are meant to place the reader in the 
scene of the poem, — the Highlands of the Hudson 



I 



1850] Epic Verse. Lyric Verse 95 

on a moonlight night. Cronest is one of the best- 
known mountains of the region. Some character- 
istic features of that scenery are introduced, — as the 
walnut and cedar trees and the fire-flies. The meas- 
ure is the rimed iambic tetrameter. But notice how 
variety of effect and lightness are gained by the fre- 
quent introduction of other feet, as in lines 8, 10, 14. 
In lines 8 and 10, anapests are introduced which give 
a peculiar tripping effect to the measure ; and in line 
14 a trochee at the beginning emphasizes the glim- 
mer of the fire-fly. ^'~" 

In connection with his friend Halleck, Drake was 
interested in a series of satirical poems, called "The 
Croakers," which were published in New York in 
1 8 19, and afterwards. This literary and personal 
friendship continued as long as Drake lived, and is 
embalmed in a little poem of Halleck' s, one stanza of Fitz-Greene 
which is among the perfect lyrics of our Literature : bomTn' 

Connecticut, 
Green be the turf above thee, 1790 • 

Friend of my better days ; died, 1867. 

None knew thee but to love thee, 

None named thee but to praise. 

Fitz-Greene Halleck spent almost all his active life 
in New York. His longest poem was a satire on 
New York society, called " Fanny." But probably 
his best work is in the lyrical vein. '' Marco Bozzaris " 
has been a favorite piece for school declamations. 
It is a spirited Ode, and has the qualities of vigorous 
life and musical movement. The American people 
were at this time intensely interested in the Greek 
Revolution , as is illustrated by the publication, nearly 



96 Period of the Early Ninetee7ith Ce7itn.ry [1800 

at the same date as the issue of Halleck's poem, of a 
Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution by Dr. S. 
G. Howe. Halleck, therefore, cannot be accused of 
seeking a foreign subject when he celebrated the 
Greek hero. The passage in this poem describing 
Death in its various aspects has been praised as 
among the very finest of its kind; and the Ode closes 
with lines that cling to the memory: 

For thou art Freedom's now, and Fame's ; 
One of the few, the immortal names, 
That were not born to die. 

Some of the most perfect lines of Halleck's verse 
are found in the poem on Burns, which is a generous 
acknowledgment of what our earliest imaginative 
poets owed to the great Scotch Bard. 

BURNS. SELECTED STANZAS 

There have been loftier themes than his, 
And longer scrolls, and louder lyres, 
And lays lit up with Poesy's 
Purer and holier fires ; 

5 Yet read the names that know not death ; 

Few nobler ones than Burns are there ; 
And few have won a greener wreath 
Than that which binds his hair. 

His is that language of the heart, 
10 In which the answering heart would speak, 

Thought, word, that bids the warm tear start, 
Or the smile light the cheek ; 

And his that music, to whose tone 
The common pulse of man keeps time, 
15 In cot or castle's mirth or moan. 

In cold or sunny clime. 



1850] Lyric Verse 97 

What sweet tears dim the eye unshed, 
What wild vows falter on the tongue, 
When " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," 
20 Or *' Auld Lang Syne " is sung ! 

Pure hopes, that lift the soul above, 
Come with his " Cotter's ""^ hymn of praise, 
And dreams of youth, and truth, and love, 
With " Logan's" banks and braes. 

25 And when he breathes his master-lay 

Of Alloway's witch-haunted wall. 
All passions in our frames of clay 
Come thronging at his call. 

Imagination's world of air, 
30 And our own world, its gloom and glee. 

Wit, pathos, poetry are there, 
And death's sublimity. 

This is simple verse and the better fitted by its sim- 
plicity to its theme. Notice how the shorter fourth 
line is made to carry the culminating thought of 
each quatrain. Notice how easily, because skilfully, 
the references to Burns' most famous and familiar 
poems are introduced (see lines 19, 20, 22, 24, 26), 
and how well the test of all great poetry is given in 
lines 13 and 14 : 

And his that music, to whose tone 
The common pulse of man keeps time. 

We have not yet found the American poet of 
whom this could be truly said. It is not true of 
Halleck ; it is not true of Drake. It is true of very 
few, and those of whom it is true are the great poets. Charles 

Charles Sprague published poems, some of which bornln^' 

express warm, true feeling in smooth and graceful Massachu- 
setts, 1791 ; 
verse. He was a man of business whose literary died, 1828, 

H 



98 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 



Lydia 
Huntley 
Sigourney, 
born in 
Connecticut, 
1791 ; 
died, 1865. 



Frances 
Sargent 
Osgood, 
born in 
Massachu- 
setts, 1811 ; 
died, 1850. 



work was a recreation. He wrote a good deal of 
what is known as " occasional " verse ; that is, verse 
written for special occasions — holidays, reunions, 
political, social, and religious gatherings. The laure- 
ates of England have been called upon to compose a 
great deal of this sort of poetry. In some instances, 
as in Tennyson's " Ode on the Death of the Duke of 
Wellington," and, in our own Literature, in the case of 
Lowell's *' Commemoration Ode" and Holmes' "Class 
Poems," very beautiful poetry has thus been written 
to order; but it is likely to lack force and spontaneity. 

Another writer who composed many much ad- 
mired occasional poems, especially for private occa- 
sions, was Mrs. Lydia Huntley Sigourney. She 
was for many years one of the most popular 
American authors. Ballads and elegies and songs 
and descriptive pieces flowed easily from her pen. 
They are of a very uniform merit ; but there is no 
one that has made any specially strong impression, 
or is remembered now. 

Another graceful versifier of this period is Mrs. 
Frances Sargent Osgood. She is spoken of by some 
critics as the first American woman to write good 
verse. Whether this is true or not, she wrote much, 
and acceptably to the critics and the public of her 
timic. But the same comparative oblivion has over- 
taken her, as has hidden from the thoughts of this 
generation so many who were famous in their day. 
Mrs. Osgood published several volumes of poetry in 
this country and in England, and a complete edition 
of her poems was issued in New York in 1850. 



1850] Lyric Verse 99 

John Pierpont, a native of Connecticut and a gradu- John 
ate of Yale, was a preacher and reformer who wrote born in 
good verses. He published, in 1840, ''Airs of Pales- Connecticut, 
tine, and Other Poems." He was an antislavery man, died, 1866. 
and also actively interested in the temperance move- 
ment. His best-known poem is a spirited lyric, called 
"Warren's Address to his Men," and beginning with 
the line " Stand ! The ground's your own, my braves." 

James Gates Percival is another native of Con- james Gates 
necticut and graduate of Yale College who gained bom In' 

distinction in Literature during this period. He was Connecticut, 

1795 ; 
a man of varied accomplishments and abilities ; a died in 

physician and student of science as well as a poet. 13^5^°"''^^"' 
He was a remarkable linguist, knowing ten lan- 
guages,, and was employed in philological work upon 
Webster's Dictionary. He wrote dramatic and lyric 
poetry, published a collection of poems in 1826, "The 
Dream of a Day" in 1843, besides scientific articles, 
translations, and essays. A complete collection of his 
poems was published in Boston in 1859. Percival 
wrote smooth and pretty verses. He is fluent, but 
cold and unimaginative. There is no fire nor passion 
in his work. It has never gained the attention of the 
people ; but it has been admired by many, and with 
justice, for the fineness and delicacy of its style. A 
good example is the following : 

TO SENECA LAKE 

On thy fair bosom, sih^er lake, 

The wild swan spreads his snowy sail, 
And round his breast the ripples break, 

As down he bears before the gale. 



TOO Period of the Early Nineteeiith Century [1800 

5 On thy fair bosom, waveless stream, 

The dipping paddle echoes far. 
And flashes in the moonliorht gleam. 
And bright reflects the polar star. 

The waves along thy pebbly shore, 
10 As blows the north wind, heave their foam. 

And curl around the dashing oar, 
As late the boatman hies him home. 

How sweet, at set of sun, to \"iew 
Thy golden mirror spreading wide, 
15 And see the mist of mantling blue 

Float round the distant mountain's side. 

At midnight hour, as shines the moon, 

A sheet of silver spreads below. 

And swift she cuts, at highest noon, 

ao Light clouds, like wreaths of purest snow. 

On thy fair bosom, silver lake ! 
O, I could ever sweep the oar, 

When early birds at morning wake, 
And evening tells us toll is o'er. 

The general effect of this descriptive piece is very 
pleasing. It is smooth as the placid surface of the 
lake it describes. It is cool as the moonlight gleam 
or the sunset and early morning effects it paints. 
Notice the perfect evenness of lines and the regu- 
larity of the iambic feet. Beginning rime, or allitera- 
tion, is frequently used. See lines 2, 3, 13, 15, 24. 
There are some examples, also, of that more difficult 
and dehcate kind of alliteration in which the alliterat- 
ing consonants are hidden within the words rather 
than displayed at the beginning. See, for examples 
of this, lines 6, 7, the r s in line 8, the st com- 
bination in line 19, and others. Percival was a 



1850] Lyric Verse 10 1 

student and scholar, in poetry, as in other Hnes, 
rather than a creative poet. He experiments in vari- 
ous forms of metre ; and among others, not unsuc- 
cessfully with the sonnet. I give an example of his 
work in this kind of verse. 

SONNET 

If on the clustering curls of thy dark hair, 
And the pure arching of thy polished brow, 
We only gaze, we fondly dream that thou 
Art one of those bright ministers who bear, 
5 Along the cloudless bosom of the air, 

Sweet, solemn words, to which our spirits bow, 
With such a holy smile thou lookest now, 
And art so soft and delicately fair. 

A veil of tender light is mantling o'er thee ; 
10 Around thy opening lips young loves are playing ; 

And crowds of youths, in passionate thought delaying, 

Pause as thou movest by them to adore thee ; 

By many a sudden blush and tear betraying 

How the heart trembles when it bends before thee. 

Notice the careful accuracy of form with which 
this is written. We find the same characteristics 
as in the other selection. Notice the hidden allitera- 
tion of the liquid /'s in lines 5 and 7 ; and the 
assonance of the and ti sounds in lines 5 and 
6. These two are very perfect lines in form and 
in thought. There is a clearly marked advance in 
the thought at the opening of the sestet, and a 
rather unusual, but very effective, change to double Nathaniel 
or feminine rimes in that part of the sonnet. wnurborn 

Nathaniel Parker Willis wrote graceful verses, and i" Maine, 

1806 ; died, 

had considerable popularity in his versified render- 1867. 



I02 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

ings of Bible stories. It was of these that Lowell 

wrote in the '* Fable for Critics " : 

He'd better let Scripture alone, 'tis self-slaughter, 
For nobody likes inspiration and water ; 

which is a witty expression of the delusion which 
critics share with many others, that nobody likes 
what they do not like. Many people did like these 
poems greatly ; and it seems to some that in " Jeph- 
thah's Daughter," and in ''Absalom," WilHs told the 
beautiful old Scripture stories, with a real feeling of 
their infinite pathos, and in appropriate and digni- 
fied form. Willis will be spoken of again with refer- 
ence to his prose work. 

A few names of verse-writers remain for very brief 
Morris^ °^^ mention. George Pope Morris wrote many popular 
1S02-1864. songs, of which ''Woodman, Spare that Tree " is one 
R. H. Wilde, of the better known. Richard Henry Wilde, a very 
accomplished statesman and scholar, of Georgia, and 
afterwards of Louisiana, is remembered by some for 
the sake of a beautiful little lyric which was pub- 
lished without his authority in 18 15, and which has 
been repeatedly reprinted. It opens with the line, 
" My life is like the summer rose." A curious inci- 
dent connected with this poem is the fact that a friend 
of Mr. Wilde translated it into Greek for his own 
amusement, and this Greek version somehow got 
John jj^^Q print, and was mistaken for an ode of Alcseus. 

Howard 

Payne, Mr. Wilde was then accused of having published as 

York^""Qr^ original a translation from the Greek. John Howard 
died in Payne wrote and published a large number of plays. 

Tunis, 

Airica, 1852. All these have been forgotten. But a simple little 



1850] Lyric Verse 1 03 

song, written for one of those plays, will never be 

forgotten, and has made Payne's name immortal; 

for "Home, Sweet Home" touched the hearts of 

the common people. What Halleck wrote about 

Burns, 

And his that music, to whose tone 
The common pulse of man keeps time, 

is true of this song, and so it takes its place among 
the great poems, simple and slight as it is. 

The same is true, to a less degree, in regard to 
"The Old Oaken Bucket," by Samuel Woodworth. samuei 
He was a literary man all his life, edited various ^^°^^°2^^' 
papers and journals, published numberless articles, 
wrote historical and dramatic works, fiction, and 
poetry ; but all have been forgotten except this one 
little song. Yet another " single famous " poem of 
this period is the " Carmen Bellicosum " of Guy g. h. 
Humphreys McMaster, a spirited description of the ^^^^gg^^' 
Revolutionary soldier, beginning. 

In their ragged regimentals 
Stood the old Continentals. 

Washington Allston is considered by many to be Washington 
the greatest painter in the early history of American bom'^n 
art. He was a man of fine literary taste, and of s°^^^ 

Carolina, 

some power of expression. He has left poems and 1779; died 
essays and a romance. But he is to be remembered setts ^is^o ^ 
as an artist rather than as a poet. He published, 
in 18 1 3, "The Sylphs of the Seasons"; and in 
1850 a volume of "Lectures on Art, and Poems" 
appeared. 



104 Period of the Early Xijieteenth Ce^itnry [1800 

In Dramatic verse there is very little of interest 
during this period. It has been remarked that 
John Howard Payne wrote a number of plays which 
have for the most part been forgotten. '' Home, 
Sweet Home " was originally sung in an operatic 
play called '* Clari, the Maid of Milan." In Sted- 
man and Hutchinson's Library of American Litera- 
ture will also be found extracts from "The Lancers, 
an Interlude " ; and '''' Brutus, or the Fall of Tarquin, 
a Tragedy.'' The latter is written in blank verse, 
and seems to show some ease in the management of 
that form of metre. There is a fragment of an 
attempt at Dramatic verse in the thin volume of 
poems by Edgar Allan Poe, called " Scenes from 
'Politian,' an unpublished Drama." The Library of 
American Literature has also preserved for us a 
scene from " IMetamora, a Tragedy," by John Augus- 
tus Stone. This was presented in New York, with 
Edwin Forrest in the title role ; but it has never 
been published. It is interesting for the fact that 
the subject is distinctively American. It is written 
partly in blank verse and partly in prose. 

QUESTIONS 

What is the Period of "The Early Nineteenth Century ''? 
What are some of its general characteristics? What t}-pes of 
Literature show advance upon the previous period? Give some 
account of the "writings of Richard Henry Dana. When and 
where was Joseph Rodman Drake born? What are some of his 
characteristics ? In what verse is " The Culprit Fay '' written ? 
What are some of its excellences as a narrative poem? How 
does the extract given show original observation of nature? 
How does the measure accord with the thouojht? Give some 



1850] Questions 105 

account of the life and writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck. How 
does the form of the stanzas in the extract assist the expression 
of the thought? What references are there to Burns' poems? 
What lines state a test of great poetry? What special kind of 
verse is found frequently in the writings of Charles Sprague and 
Lydia Huntley Sigourney? Give some account of the writings 
of Frances Sargent Osgood and John Fierpont. Give a general 
account of the writings of James Gates Percival. What is the 
general effect of the poem on " Seneca Lake " ? Point out the use 
of alliteration in this poem. Analyze the structure of PercivaPs 
Sonnet, showing the advance of thought at the beginning of the 
sestet. Show the use of vowel sounds in this sonnet. What 
was the character of the verse of Nathaniel Parker Willis ? Men- 
tion other lyric poets of the period. Who were the authors of 
" Home, Sweet Home," " The Old Oaken Bucket," and " Carmen 
Bellicosum " ? What were some of the writings of Washington 
Allston? Give some account of the dramatic writings of John 
Howard Payne. What other dramatic writings were there during 
this period? 



CHAPTER IV 

Period of the Early Nineteenth Century, 
1800-1850 

VERSE CONTINUED-BRYANT AND FOE 
William It was said in the introductory remarks as to 

Cullen . r 1 • '11 

Bryant, the writers of this period that there were two who 

born in reached a very hiffh note in the poetic scale. To 

Massachu- j o r 

setts, 1794; these two we now turn our attention. They were 

died in New , ... 

York, 1878. contrasted at every point, in character, career, and 
genius ; and the study of the contrast will be helpful 
to the comprehension and appreciation of both. 

William Cullen Bryant was born in Cummington, 
Berkshire County, Massachusetts, November 3, 1794. 
He was a frail child, with an abnormally large head, 
which his father, a physician with a turn for experi- 
ment, tried to reduce by dipping the baby every 
morning into a spring of cold. water. It is not sur- 
prising, perhaps, that a child who could survive this 
should become a man who lived with generally good 
health to the ripe age of eighty-four years. 

In his sixteenth year Bryant entered Williams Col- 
lege. He did not complete the course, but withdrew 
and began to study law. He had, like most intelli- 
gent boys, written some verses, which were not very 
different from the usual efforts of such youths. But, 
in his eighteenth year, he wrote the poem which is 
still his chief claim to distinction. '' Thanatopsis " is 

106 




/^l/^ULA^yUL, / ' v^ (_...,^C<-J^JL(yit^ 




1 800-1850] Bryant a7td Poe 107 

probably the most remarkable instance of precocity 
on record. It seems rather a pity, however, that it 
should be so considered. For it is a great poem, 
aside from any reference to the time of its composi- 
tion. It was published in the ''North American "Thanatop- 
Review " in September, 18 17. There have been a ^^^' ^ ^'^' 
good many dates suggested for the birth of American 
poetry. Probably no one will ever be agreed upon ; 
for poetry is not born at any one place at any one 
time, any more than violets. Some morning in the 
spring we wake up and the violets are here ; but 
it would not be easy to tell on what day and in what 
place the first violet bloomed. So the American 
people woke up about that time and found that real 
poetry was being written. Though we cannot cer- 
tainly call this the birthday of American poetry, it is 
a good date to remember. That September, 1817, 
issue of the " North American Review " marks a very 
important epoch in our Literature ; for it contained 
the two poems by Bryant which were first pub- 
lished, '* Thanatopsis " and ''The Inscription for the 
Entrance to a Wood." In 1825 Bryant went to 
New York, and for a while was connected with a 
series of unsuccessful magazines. In his thirty- 
second year he became connected with the New York 
" Evening Post," and thus began his life work. For 
fifty years his was one of the influential pens in the 
country. Perhaps we should have had more poetry 
if Bryant had not been so successful a journalist. 
But it is more probable that the real poetry in a man's 
soul will express itself, whatever his circumstances ; 



io8 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

and what we should have gained in quantity we 
might have lost in quality had Bryant written more. 
His personality was, if possible, even more influential 
than his pen. For many years Bryant might well 
have been called New York's chief citizen. He was 
prominent on many social and ceremonial occasions. 
His venerable head, with its abundant snow-white 
beard, was often conspicuous and always honored. 
It was just after delivering an address at the dedica- 
tion of a monument to the Italian patriot and re- 
former Mazzini that he fell on the steps of a friend's 
house and received injuries from the effects of which, 
on June 12, 1878, he died. 

It cannot be said that there is any marked develop- 
ment in Bryant's poetry. He struck a high note at 
the beginning, and he sustained it to the end. The 
verse of the boy of eighteen and that of the man of 
eighty show substantially the same characteristics. 
We wish there were more of it. Considering the 
length of his life and the greatness of his mind and 
character, the product is sadly small. It is for the 
most part "meditative." He loves nature in her 
moods of quiet, and interprets her teaching. The 
opening lines of " Thanatopsis " — 

To him who in the love of Nature holds 
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
A various language, 

characterize him, except that it might be said his 
interpretation of nature lacks variety. Bryant is 
without passion. There is feeling in his work; but 
the feeling is calm and subdued. He teaches a high 



1850] Bryant and Poe 109 

ideal of living and a serene trust. His diction and 
his thought are alike pure. Like all great poets, he 
is profoundly religious ; but it is the religion of con- 
fidence and peace, rather than of question, struggle, 
or consecration. His mastery of form is very perfect 
He has taken two of the most difficult of English 
forms, blank verse and the Spenserian stanza, and 
has handled them with consummate skill. We shall 
find no better examples for the study of these forms 
in our Literature. *' Thanatopsis " was written in 
blank verse ; and when in his old age he made a 
translation of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" into Eng- 
lish, he used the same form. I will call attention to 
some of the special excellences of his first great poem. 

THANATOPSIS 

/■ \ \ / / f 

To him who I in the love of Nature holds 



Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 



A various language ; for his gayer hours 



She has a voice of gladness,] and a smile 
5 And eloquence of beauty, and she glides 

/ r r \ V^ \ f 

Into his darker musings, with a mild 

And healing sympathy, that steals away 

Their sharpness, ere he is aware. | When thoughts 
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight 

10 Over thy spirit, and sad images 

Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, 
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, 
Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart — 
Go forth, under the open sky, and list 

IS To Nature's teachings, while from all around — 
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air — 
Comes a still voice -f- Yet a few days, and thee 
The all-beholding sun shall see no more 



no Period of tJie Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

In all his course ; nor yet in the cold ground, 

20 Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears. 
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist 
Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim 
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, 
And. lost each human trace, surrendering up 

25 Thine individual being, shalt thou go 
To mix forever with the elements. 
To be a brother to the insensible rock 
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain 
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak 

30 Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould. 
Yet not to thine eternal resting-place 
Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish 
Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down 
With patriarchs of the infant world — with kings, 

35 The powerful of the earth — the wise, the good. 
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, 
All in one mighty sepulchre. , The hills 
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun — the vales 
Stretching in pensive quietness between ; 

40 The venerable woods — rivers that move 
In majesty, and the complaining brooks 
That make the meadows green ; and, poured round all, 
Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste, — 
Are but the solemn decorations all 

45 Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun, 
.The planets, all the infinite host of heaven. 
Are shining on the sad abodes of death. 
Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread 
The globe are but a handful to the tribes 

50 That slumber in its bosom. — Take the wings 
Of morning, traverse Barca's desert sands. 
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods 
W^here rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound. 
Save his own dashings — yet — the dead are there: 

55 And millions in those solitudes, since first 

The flight of years began, have laid them down 
In their last sleep — the dead reign there alone. 
So shalt thou rest, and what if thou withdraw 



\ 



1850] Bryant and Poe ill 

In silence from the living, and no friend 
60 Take note of thy departure ? All that breathe 
Will share thy destiny. /The gay will laugh 
When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care 
Plod on, and each one as before will chase 
His favorite phantom ; yet all these shall leave 
65 Their mirth and their employments, and shall come, 
And make their bed with thee. As the long train 
Of ages glide away, the sons of men. 
The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes 
In the full strength of years, matron, and maid, 
70 And the sweet babe, and the gray-headed man, — 
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side, 
By those, who in their turn shall follow them. 

So live, that when thy summons comes to join 

The innumerable caravan, which moves 
75 To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 

His chamber in the silent halls of death. 

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
80 Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

The thought of the poem is very simple. The 
contemplation of death in the light of nature reveals 
two facts : all have died ; therefore all shall die. In 
death we join a great multitude, and we shall be fol- 
lowed by multitudes. We should, therefore, meet the 
universal lot with fortitude and dignity. It may seem 
a simple lesson, but it is all that nature teaches us. The 
subject and its method of treatment place this poem 
in the class of *' Elegiac " verse. It reminds us, in the 
general pensive tone, of Gray's " Elegy written in a 
Country Churchyard." This serious, quiet contem- 
plation of the sad facts of sorrow and death is one of 



112 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

the characteristic features of the EngHsh poetry of 
the time just before Bryant; and it is of interest to 
see it appearing in this, perhaps the first important 
contribution of America to EngHsh poetry. The 
excellence of the poem lies in the appropriate and 
beautiful development of these simple thoughts. 
Such lines as these lift the reader out of the region 
of the commonplace into that of the imagination: 

■ The hills 

Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun. Lines 37-38. 

Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste. Line 43. 

Through the still lapse of ages. Line 48. 

Notice how the special aspect of hills and ocean 
appropriate to the thought of the poem is impressed 
upon us ; and how, in line 48, the swift and unno- 
ticed passage of time is expressed in the very sound 
of the letters. It is remarkable how the thought is 
carried back to the beginning of the race, over all 
the world, and forward into the future. This is 
accomplished by the use of suggestive phrases, such 
as: '' Barca's desert sands," line 51; *' Where rolls 
the Oregon and hears no sound," line 53; *'As the 
long train of ages glide away," lines ^6-6"]. A not- 
able characteristic is the self-control, the reserve, 
shown throughout the poem. The point is never 
pressed too hard. The temptation to expand is al- 
ways successfully resisted. It is the lack of this 
quality of reserve which makes Barlow's verse so 
tedious. The true poet would always rather suggest 
than describe ; and he will always stop when the 
impression he desires is made. 



1850] Bryant and Poe 1 13 

The poem, as has been said, is in blank verse ; and 
as Bryant is probably our greatest master in that 
form, it will be well to examine the versification 
carefully. The first eight lines scanned will serve as 
an example of the whole. I mark the accented 
syllables with the acute accent ; and in cases where 
the stress is divided between the two syllables of the 
foot, use the grave accent, leaving the unaccented 
syllables unmarked. The curved line marks the 
cesura, or point, in each line where the sense calls 
for a pause. The right management of the cesura, 
so that the sense pause shall correspond to the 
rhythmical pause, is very difficult in verse. If the 
pause occurs at the same point in each line, the 
effect will be unpleasantly monotonous, or sing- 
song. . On the other hand, if the pauses are too far 
apart, the reader has to take breath in the middle 
of the line, and that will sometimes spoil the musical 
effect. In this, as in all good verse, the rhetorical 
pauses come where they give variety and beauty to 
the rhythm. With very few exceptions each foot is a 
perfect iambus. The exceptions, however, are fre- 
quent enough to avoid the monotony which absolute 
uniformity would cause. The word "visible" in the 
second line occasions one exception. Here, in order 
to make an iambus, the syllables must be crowded 
together, or the second syllable slurred. It is proba- 
bly better to give each syllable its full value, making 
with the following word, "forms," an anapest. The 
same is true of the word "various" in the third line. 
So the first word of the sixth line forms a trochee, the 



114 Period of the Early Ni7i€teenth Century [1800 

stress coming upon the first syllable. Such a change 
not only gives variety, but emphasizes the change 
of thought which comes at that point of the poem. 

There are some beautiful examples of asso- 
nance in "Thanatopsis." Notice the effect of the 
vowel sounds in lines 14, 18, 36, 53-54. In the last- 
mentioned especially see how the open sounds 
suggest the rolling of the broad river, and the 
close a and e sounds the dashings of its rapids. 
Line 54 is also characterized by alliteration, which, 
though not very prominent in this poem, and cer- 
tainly not obtrusive, is yet ver}* skilfully and effec- 
tively employed. Notice how the consonant sounds 
are repeated in lines 31, 48, and j^. 

In some cases, perhaps in many, these finer effects 
of assonance and alliteration are due to the instinc- 
tive choice of words, resulting from the poet's musi- 
cal ear, rather than to conscious selection. Yet 
many of our great poets have spent hours over a 
single line in order to make the sound and sense 
more perfectly harmonize. It is interesting and in- 
structive in this relation to notice the changes which 
Br)^ant made in " Thanatopsis " in successive editions. 
Thus the line alreadv cited, '* Old ocean's CTav and 
melancholy waste," was not in the first edition. In 
line 31 "thy'' was changed to "thine," probably to 
avoid the unpleasant combination of vowels, "thy 
eternal." Lines 50-51 were worked over several 
times. "Pierce the Barcan wilderness," "The Barcan 
desert pierce," "Traverse Barca's desert sands," are 
the varying forms which show how the poet labored 





^A^/&y 






1850] Bryant a^id Poe 115 

over that little phrase. Again, line 53 reads in the 
first edition, ''That veil the Oregon where he hears 
no sound." Clearly the poet was thinking of the 
sound of the vowels as well as the meaning when he 
changed this line to, " Where rolls the Oregon and 
hears no sound." Line 70 is given as it is found in 
the little blue and gold edition of 1862, "And the 
sweet babe and the gray-headed man." In the edi- 
tion of 1 82 1 this, with the preceding line, ran thus: 

The bowed with age, the infant in the smile 
And beauty of its innocent age cut off. 

In the complete edition of 1883, representing, we 
may suppose, the author's latest thought about the 
lines, they read : 

In the full strength of years, matron and maid, 
The speechless babe and the gray-headed man. 

As originally published in the " North American Re- 
view," the poem began with the words, "Yet a few 
days," in line 17, and closed with line 66, "And make 
their bed with thee." The introduction and the close 
were written for the edition of 182 1. 

There could scarcely be imagined a life more en- Edgar Allan 
tirely contrasted to Bryant's than that of Edgar i^°Bost°oT 
Allan Poe. He was the child of David and Eliza- ^^09; died 

• . . i'^ Baltimore, 

beth Arnold Poe, who were at the time of his birth 1849. 
members of the dramatic company of the Federal 
Street Theatre, Boston. In that city Poe was born, 
January 19, 1809. Left an orphan in his childhood, 
he was adopted by Mr. John Allan, a wealthy mer- 
chant of Richmond, Virginia. He accompanied his 



ii6 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

adopted parents to England, and was at school for 
five years at Stoke-Newington. This school he has 
described in the story "William Wilson." He spent 
a short time at the University of Virginia, and then 
for a little while was in Mr. Allan's counting-room in 
Richmond. He left here '' to seek his fortune," and 
at Boston in 1827 issued his first volume, "Tamer- 
lane, and Other Poems." Thus his poetical career 
began early, as did Bryant's. But the poems in this 
volume do not bear the relation to Poe's subsequent 
work that " Thanatopsis " does to Bryant's. His 
earnings from his literary work were not large ; 
and probably in a fit of despair he enlisted in the 
United States army. He did well as a soldier, and 
was promoted ; and Mr. Allan, learning of his where- 
abouts, secured his appointment to a cadetship at 
West Point. He was more interested in poetry than 
in his professional studies, however ; neglected his 
studies, and in 1831 was cashiered. From this time 
he earned a precarious support by his pen. He was 
editor of magazines in Richmond, Philadelphia, and 
New York. He gained distinction as a critical writer, 
and by his weird and powerful tales. On the 29th of 
January, 1845, "The Raven" appeared in the New 
York "Evening Mirror," and from that time Poe was 
famous. The last years of his life were spent in New 
York, his home being at Fordham, a suburb of the 
city. His home relations were happy, in the sense 
that a tender and faithful affection existed between 
him and his wife. Her health was always delicate, 
however, and her death confirmed Poe's tendency to 



1850] Bryant and Poe wj 

irregular habits, which were the cause, or at least the 
occasion, of his own death, in Baltimore, in October, 
1849. 

The judgments upon Poe's life and work have been 
varied in the extreme. Lowell wrote in the *' Fable 
for Critics " : 

There comes Poe with his raven like Barnaby Rudge, 
Three-fifths of him genius, and two-fifths sheer fudge. 

It is a great deal to say of any one that he is three- 
fifths genius. It is severe, however, to call the 
remaining two-fifths sheer fudge. On the other 
hand, some critics have maintained that Poe is the 
only original genius in American Literature. All 
agree in ascribing to him genius, which is the highest 
praise that can be given to a writer, but probably no 
two of them would agree exactly in their answers if 
asked just what they mean by genius. There can be 
no doubt, however, that in "The Raven," "The 
Bells," " Ulalume," "The Conquering Worm," 
"Annabel Lee," "Israfel," and indeed in most of 
his lyrics, Poe displays a mastery of sound, and a 
power of expressing feelings of despair, regret, and 
a wild sort of aspiration, which are of a very high de- 
gree, and of a kind all his own. It cannot be said 
that Poe is like any of the British poets. He is cer- 
tainly not Wordsworthian, nor Byronic, nor is he like 
Shelley. He is Poe, and no one else, and like no one 
else. He is essentially lyrical. He did not believe 
in the Epic style, maintaining that if a poem or tale 
exceeded a certain moderate limit of length, its effect 



Il8 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [i8co 

was injured; that the perfect poem must be a short 
poem. This is, of course, true of the lyrical poem, 
which appeals strongly to the emotions, and expresses 
the personality of the writer. Poe is intensely per- 
sonal. It is his own despair, his own regrets, his 
own baffled hopes and desires, which inspire his verse. 
He seems to have little of the dramatic power of con- 
ceiving other beings, and expressing their thoughts, 
feelings, hopes, and characters. His poems interpret 
his own soul. They do not interpret nature. If we 
read Bryant's " Thanatopsis " or his "Hymn to 
Death," and then read Poe's " Conquering Worm," 
we can hardly fail to feel the contrast in thought and 
method. Bryant goes to nature for the meaning of 
death. Poe keeps his eye fixed upon the human 
being, and upon the body after death ; and as he 
looks no further than the imagination can see, the 
effect is terrible. The horrors that nature hides from 
us, Poe drags to the light. Bryant imitates the re- 
serve of the nature he studies. But Poe has what 
Bryant lacks, — warmth and passion. His lyrics take 
a grip upon one that cannot easily be unloosed. 
"The Raven" and "The Bells" have probably been 
committed to memory and recited more frequently 
than any other American poems, and this is because 
of certain very high qualities of excellence. The 
refrain, which is a prominent characteristic of both, 
is of course an aid to the memory. But the intensely 
vivid picturing of the thought, and the perfect adap- 
tation of the sound to the feeling, are the real secrets 
of the ease of memorizing. Take "The Bells" as an 



1850] Bryant and Poe 119 

example of Poe's work, and look for some of the 
obvious sources of its power. 

THE BELLS 
I 

Hear the sledges with the bells, — 

Silver bells ! 
What a world of merriment their melody foretells! 
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, 
5 In the icy air of night ! 

While the stars that oversprinkle 
All the heavens, seem to twinkle 
With a crystalline delight ; 
Keeping time, time, time, 
10 In a sort of Runic rhyme, 

To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells 
From the bells, bells, bells, bells. 

Bells, bells, bells — 
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. 

II 

IS Hear the mellow wedding bells, 

Golden bells! 
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! 
Through the balmy air of night 
How they ring out their delight ! 
20 From the molten-golden notes, 

And all in tune, 
What a liquid ditty floats 
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats 
On the moon! 
25 Oh, from out the sounding cells, 

What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! 
How it swells ! 
How it dwells 
On the Future ! How it tells 
30 Of the rapture that impels 

To the swinging and the ringing 
Of the bells, bells, bells, 



120 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, 
Bells, bells, bells, — 
35 To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells ! 



ni 

Hear the loud alarum bells, — 

Brazen bells ! 
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells ! 
In the startled ear of night 
40 How they scream out their affright ! 

Too much horrified to speak, 
They can only shriek, shriek, 
Out of tune, 
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, 
45 In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire 

Leaping higher, higher, higher, 
With a desperate desire, 
And a resolute endeavor 
Now — now to sit or never, 
50 By the side of the pale-faced moon. 

Oh, the bells, bells, bells ! 
What a tale their terror tells 
Of Despair I 
How they clang, and clash, and roar ! 
Si What .a horror they outpour 

On the bosom of the palpitating air ! 
Yet the ear it fully knows. 
By the twanging, 
And the clanging, 
60 How the danger ebbs and flows : 

Yet the ear distinctly tells. 
In the jangling. 
And the wrangling, 
How the danger sinks and swells, 
65 By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells • 

Of the bells — 
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, 

Bells, bells, bells — 
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells ! 



1850] Bryant and Poe 121 

IV 

70 Hear the tolling of the bells — • 

Iron bells ! 
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! 
In the silence of the night, 
How we shiver with affright, 
75 At the melancholy menace of their tone ! 

For every sound that floats 
From the rust within their throats 
Is a groan. 
And the people — ah, the people — 
80 They that dwell up in the steeple, 

All alone. 
And who tolling, tolling, tolling, 
In that muffled monotone, 
Feel a glory in so rolling 
85 On the human heart a stone — 

They are neither man nor woman — 
They are neither brute nor human — 
They are Ghouls : 
And their king it is who tolls ; 
90 And he rolls, rolls, rolls. 

Rolls 
A paean from the bells ! 
And his merry bosom swells 
With the paean of the bells! 
95 And he dances, and he yells ; 

Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Runic rhyme, 
To the psean of the bells — 
Of the bells : 
100 Keeping time, time, time, 

In a sort of Runic rhyme. 
To the throbbing of the bells — 
Of the bells, bells, bells — 
To the sobbing of the bells ; 
105 Keeping time, time, time. 

As he knells, knells, knells. 
In a happy Runic rhyme, 



122 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

To the roUing of the bells — 
Of the bells, bells, bells — 
no To the tolling of the bells. 

Of the beUs, bells, bells, bells — 
Bells, bells, bells — 
To the moaniag and the groaning of the bells. 

One notices at once the great irregularity of the 
lines. This is more apparent than real ; that is, it is 
more a matter of printing than of real irregularit}" of 
metre. The poem could, without much alteration, be 
wTitten in lines of sLx, seven, or eight feet. But the 
printing in varied lengths adds much to the effect 
by emphasizing the short phrases which are put into 
separate lines. Notice lines 90-92 in the fourth 
stanza. They could be written in one line, thus, — 

And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls, a paean from the bells, 

which could be scanned as a pentameter line, with 
anapest, spondee, trochee, dactyl, and iambus. This 
is certainly a great variety of feet for one line ; but 
the varietv is there, whether we make one line or 
three, and simply illustrates Poe's originality and 
boldness in the use of metrical forms. The putting 
the last "rolls" into a line by itself gives it great 
emphasis. It is really a suggestion to the elocu- 
tionist, rather than a metrical arrangement. A good 
deal of the repetition and line arrangement of " The 
Bells " deser\'es the same characterization. 

Assonance is a very prominent characteristic of 
this poem. Each stanza strikes a keynote of sound 
in the epithet applied to the bells, and the words 
following are largely variations on that keynote. 



1850] Bryant and Poe 123 

Thus the first stanza has " Silver bells," and then 
follow variations on the i sound. The word " tin- 
tinnabulation " would have been rejected by most 
writers as unpoetical ; but it fits in perfectly with 
Poe's scheme of sound, and, as he uses it, seems 
poetical and beautiful. So the second stanza has 
" Golden bells," and then rings the changes on the 
and u notes. Notice lines 20-23. The third has 
'* Brazen bells," and follows the a and e sounds. For 
examples, see lines 38, 42, 44, 56, 62, 63, 64, 69. 
The fourth begins with the tolling of the " Iron 
bells," and then weaves together the sounds that 
have been prominent in the other three, closing in 
line 113 with the full round sound. 

Alliteration also is very prominent in this poem. 
There are examples in lines 3, 4, 9, 11, and the 
student can now easily look it out for himself. 
Indeed, all through, the frequent repetition of the 
word "bells" gives the effect of alliteration. We 
should notice also the skill shown in the manage- 
ment of rimes. Necessarily one rime, that with the 
word " bells," has to be very often used. But it 
never seems as if the word selected was forced upon 
the poet for the sake of the rime. A striking pecul- 
iarity of the poem is the frequent and skilful use of 
feminine, or double rimes, which gives a peculiar 
swinging, ringing, bell-like quality to the rhythm. 
But all these elements of form are well subordinated 
to the thought and feeling expressed by the poem. 
The "bells" are made the types of hope, love, joy, 
terror, ambition, sorrow, and despair. And the 



124 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

sounds, rime, metre, all are made to help the ex- 
pression of these ideas. The more it is studied, the 
more wonderful will seem the art with which this is 
done. Mr. E. C. Stedman says : 

In the same remarkable fantasia the bells themselves 
become human, and it is a master stroke that makes us 
hear them shriek out of tune, 

In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, 

and forces us to the very madness with which they are 

Leaping higher, higher, higher, 

With a desperate desire, 

And a resolute endeavor. 

Now — now to sit, or never, 

By the side of the pale-faced moon. 

QUESTIONS 

When and where was William Cullen Bryant born ? Give some 
account of his early life. When and in what journal was " Thana- 
topsis '^ first published? What other poem appeared at the same 
time? When did Bryant go to New York to live? Give some 
account of his life there. What is the character of the most of 
Bryant's poetry? What is its type of feeling? What is its character 
as to form ? What is the thought of " Thanatopsis ? " To what class 
of poetry does it belong? Note some verses of special excellence, 
and point out the qualities in which they excel. What especially 
suggestive phrases are employed? Analyze the metrical arrange- 
ment of the first eight lines. How is the cesura employed? 
Note some examples of assonance and of alliteration. What 
changes were made in successive editions of the poem, and what 
do they indicate as to the poet's method ? When and where was 
Edgar Allan Poe born? Tell the story of his life. When was 
his first volume of poems published? When did "The Raven" 
appear? What are some of the critical judgments upon Poe's 
poetical work? What is the peculiar power of his poetry? What 
was his theory as to the proper length of a poem ? Compare and 




1850] Questions 125 

contrast his work with that of Bryant. What effect has the irregu- 
larity of verse length in " The Bells '' ? Describe the management 
of the vowel sounds in this poem. Point out examples of allit- 
eration. What peculiarity is there in the use of rime.'' What 
relation have these peculiarities of form to the thought of the 
poem? 



CHAPTER V 

Period of the Early Nineteenth Century, 
1800-1850 

NARRATIVE PROSE. FICTION 

PoE was famous as a writer of stories as well as 
of poems. Some critics have thought that his pecu- 
liar genius is displayed even more powerfully in his 
"Tales" than in his verse. He held to the same 
theory in prose as in poetry. The long narrative 
seemed to him necessarily imperfect. The interest, 
he thought, cannot be sustained beyond a certain 
point, and, therefore, the perfect tale, like the per- 
fect poem, will be short. Consistently with this 
theory he never undertook an extended novel or 
romance, but spent all his labor upon bringing his 
short stories to the greatest possible perfection. 
His first literary success was a story, written in 1833 
for a money prize of one hundred dollars, offered by 
the Baltimore "Saturday Visitor." The story was 
Poe's Tales, entitled "A Manuscript found in a Bottle," and one 
of the judges who awarded the prize was Mr. John 
P. Kennedy, of whom we shall have more to say. 
Mr. Kennedy proved a very useful friend to Poe, 
obtaining literary work for him, and securing him 
the position of editor of " The Southern Literary 
Messenger." In 1839 Poe published a collection of 

126 
















©/• fC7^f£y»t^£/r\^ C^<^j;^x^%/ 



1 800-1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 127 

his stories, in two volumes, entitled *' Tales of the 
Grotesque and Arabesque." He showed great origi- 
nality in the plots and incidents of these tales. The 
horrible, in one form or another, is a strong element 
in most of them. He had the greatest ingenuity in 
devising incidents and situations. He showed great 
power of description and of swiftly moving narra- 
tion. There is very little portrayal or development 
of character. As in the poems, it is Poe himself 
who, under various names and in various disguises, 
appears in all the stories ; or else the characters are 
subordinated to the incidents. Among the most 
powerful of the tales are " The Fall of the House 
of Usher," ''The Black Cat," ''The Murders in the 
Rue Morgue," "William Wilson," "The Gold Bug." 
Poe's ideas and plots, in these stories, have been 
freely imitated. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" 
set the fashion for detective stories which has been 
followed by a number of clever writers since. " The 
Gold Bug " did the same for the use of the " cryp- 
togram " in fiction. It would not be easy to count 
the stories which have borrowed suggestions of one 
sort or another from Poe. " William Wilson " is to 
some extent autobiographic, describing the school in 
England where Poe spent some years ; and perhaps 
its leading idea, of a man tormented and driven wild 
by his double, suggests the strangely double character 
of the author. The thought is not entirely dissimilar 
from that of Stevenson's " Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." 
Poe's tales are essentially romantic. He never 
attempts to reproduce character, or manners, or life, 



128 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

in their ordinary or commonplace manifestations. It 
is always the terrible, the grotesque, or the extraordi- 
nary, which gives interest to his plots. His style 
shows a remarkable power of adapting words to the 
prevailing tone of the composition. In the opening 
passage of "The Fall of the House of Usher," for 
example, the day is described as "dull, dark, and 
soundless," the building has "bleak walls," "vacant 
eye-like windows," the lake in front of the house is 
called "a black and lurid tarn." In this way the 
tone of gloom and terror is given to the begin- 
ning, which is maintained with increasing force till 
the end, when " The deep and dark tarn at my feet 
closed suddenly and silently over the fragments of 
the house of Usher." There is nothing preter- 
natural in this story. Every circumstance may be 
accounted for. The premature burial is due to cata- 
lepsy ; and the final destruction of the house to a 
tornado. But by the skilful management of inci- 
dent and the powerful descriptions, all the horrible 
effect of a ghost story is secured, without the often 
attendant absurdity. For skill in the effective group- 
ing of incidents, for power in description, for the 
masterful use of words to suggest pictures and secure 
the condition of mind in the reader which will make 
him susceptible to the impression desired by the 
writer, Poe is, probably, the best example in our Liter- 
ature. His failure is in lack of reserve. He some- 
times presses the point too hard. We refuse to believe 
in such a combination of elements of gloom and 
horror as he employs in most of his stories. Ethical 



1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 129 

teaching and humor are almost entirely absent from 
his work. 

Continuing the study of the prose fiction of this 
period I note next, the name of William Ware, a Uni- wiiiiam 
tarian clergyman who wrote some historical romances ^^ Massa°chu- 
of considerable popularity in their time. " Zenobia," ^etts, 1797; 

^ ^ J died, 1852. 

"Aurelian," and ''Julian" are the names of three of 
his best books. 

William Gilmore Simms was also a writer of ro- wniiam 
mances. His works are of value as illustrating the simms, 
earlier history of the United States, especially in the ^°^" ^" 
Carolinas ; and to a certain extent the life and man- Carolina, 
ners of the people of those states. He was a very died 1870 
voluminous writer, publishing a good deal of verse, 
as well as editorial and historical work, and a long 
series of works of fiction. "The Yemassee," published 
in 1835, is thought to be his best work. These ro- 
mances have spirit and vigor of style, but show the 
defects of the author's lack of thorough literary train- 
ing. They will always be of interest, however, as illus- 
trations of the life of the time, and as the only important 
representative, in the Literature of the period, of the 
part of the country which was the author's home. 
Simms' publications number forty-four titles. They 
include poems, novels, histories, biographies, and 
critical essays. Some of his more important works, 
with the dates of their publication, are the following : 

Lyrical and Other Poems 1827 

Martin Faber 1833 

The Yemassee 1835 

Life of Francis Marion 1845 

The Sword and the Distaff 1852 

K 



130 Period of the Early Ni7ietee7ith Cetitury [1800 



Catharine 
Maria 
SedgAvick, 
born in 
Massachu- 
setts, 1789 ; 
died, 1867. 



John- 

Pendleton 

Kennedy, 

bom in 

Baltimore, 

1795; died, 

1870. 



For reasons similar to those which give special 
value to the writings of Simms, a place in the history 
of American Literature will always be found for the 
name of Catharine Maria Sedgwick. She did for 
Massachusetts what Simms did for Carolina ; but 
she did it more in the style of the novel than of the 
romance. Perhaps the difference is due somewhat 
to the nature of the material offered by New Eng- 
land life. But certainly Miss Sedgwick has more of 
the manner of "realism " than has the Southern author. 
Her first novels were published anonymously. " Red- 
wood," which appeared in 1824, was reprinted in 
England, and translated into four European lan- 
guages. It is said that this book was ascribed to 
Cooper by some European critics. " The Linwoods, 
or Sixty Years Since in America," is thought by 
many to be her best work. 

Among the most accomplished of the many brill- 
iant men who adorned American public life during 
this period, was John Pendleton Kennedy. He was 
prominent in political life, in Congress, and in the 
diplomatic service. He published writings on politi- 
cal subjects, in biography, and in history. His con- 
nection with Poe has been referred to already. 
He was an intimate friend of the great English 
novelist, Thackeray ; and one of the curiosities of 
Literature is the fact that a chapter of ''The 
Virginians" was written by Kennedy. It would 
be an interesting exercise to try to discover, from 
indications in the material and style, which chapter 
of Thackeray's novel was written by the Ameri- 



1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 131 

can. Kennedy's books might be called ''romantic 
novels," as combining the two types of fiction. They 
illustrate the life and manners of Virginia and Mary- 
land ; but they go back to the Revolutionary and 
colonial times for their subjects; and in "Rob of 
the Bowl," for instance, the somewhat stately life 
of the lords proprietary, with the pirate smugglers 
of the time, give the book an Old World flavor of 
romance. This book, published in 1838, "Horse- 
Shoe Robinson," 1835, ^^^^ "Swallow Barn," 1832, 
are Kennedy's principal works of fiction. "^ 

James Kirke Paulding is always associated in our James Kirke 
minds with Washington Irving, his intimate friend bom in New 
and literary partner in the "Salmagundi" papers. York, 1779; 
But he merits a paragraph on his own account. He 
was a journalist and politician, being Secretary of the 
Navy in Van Buren's administration ; but his chief 
interest was Literature. After the "Salmagundi" 
papers his first publication was "The Diverting His- 
tory of John Bull and Brother Jonathan," which 
was very successful. He published other satires, a 
"Life of Washington," some extended poems, — 
which appear to have been quite forgotten, — and a 
number of novels. The names of some of them 
are as follows : " Koningsmarke, the Long Finne," 
1823; "The Dutchman's Fireside," 1831 ; "West- 
ward Ho," 1832; "The Old Continental," 1846; "The 
Puritan and his Daughter," 1849. Of these prob- 
ably the best is "The Dutchman's Fireside." It is a 
story of colonial times in New York, full of bright 
humor and quaint characterization. 



132 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 



James 

Fenimore 

Cooper, 

born in New readers, is Tames Fenimore Cooper 

Jersey, 1789; 

died in New in Burlington, New Jersey, September 15, 1789 

York, 1851 



The great novelist of the period, and one whose 
works have given pleasure to a very wide circle of 

He was born 
His 
father was the owner of several thousand acres of 
land near the head waters of the Susquehanna River, 
in the state of New York. In the year 1790 the 
family moved to this property, then on, if not beyond, 
the frontier of civilization. The village of Coopers- 
town had been founded on the shore of Otsego 
Lake, and the family home was established here. 
It was not, indeed, in the style of the usual pioneer 
settler, for the Coopers were rich ; but it brought 
Cooper in his boyhood into contact with pioneers, 
trappers, hunters, and friendly Indians. He was 
sent to Yale College, but had some difference with 
the authorities which prevented him from completing 
the course. From 1806 to 181 1 he lived the life of 
a sailor; at first "before the mast" on a merchant 
vessel, afterwards as a junior officer in the United 
States navy. The experiences of these two periods 
in his early life are reflected in the subjects and 
materials of his most successful books. He married 
in 181 1, and lived for some years in Westchester 
County, New York. In 1834 he rebuilt his father's 
house in Cooperstown, and there, in Otsego Hall, as 
it was called, lived until his death, September 14, 1851, 

While his writings were always widely read. Cooper 
was never a popular man. He was aggressive in the 
expression of his opinions, and his views were often 
unpalatable to the public taste in America and in 



1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 133 

Europe. He was an ardent American and republican; 
and in social circles abroad sometimes gave offence 
by the freedom with which he defended his ideas. 
On the other hand, he saw plainly and felt keenly the 
faults of our then rather crude civilization, and de- 
scribed them in caustic language. One of his novels, 
" Home as Found," is a satire on American social 
and business life. Americans were at that time 
more sensitive to such criticism than they are now ; 
and Cooper's expressions aroused furious anger. He 
was vilified in the newspapers to such an extent that 
when he instituted a series of suits for damages, he 
was almost invariably successful, although the gen- 
eral sympathy was with the offending papers rather 
than with him. Probably the best service a friend 
can do to a friend is to point out his faults to him ; 
and there is nothing for which America owes more 
gratitude to Cooper than for his faithfulness in this 
respect. But people are not usually grateful for 
such service ; and it is possible that the manner of 
the criticism may be to blame for the extreme bitter- 
ness with which it was received. 

Cooper's first novel was "Precaution," published in "Precau- 
1820. It is said that he was reading an English novel 
and remarked, as he put it down, ** I believe I could 
write a better book myself." It may be that he did ; 
but "Precaution" is not a very good book. It is a 
story of English life and manners, and naturally suf- 
fers from its author's comparative unfamiliarity with 
the subject. It was suggested to him that he could 
probably do better with an American theme ; and 



tion," 1820. 



134 Period of the Early Nineteenth Cejttury [1800 

Cooper, taking this good advice, wrote and published, 
"The Spy," in 1821, "The Spy." With the issue of this he at 
once became famous. It was an American story, 
placed in American scenery. It was free from the 
morbid strain which injures Brown's most effec- 
tive work. It had movement, life, vivid description, 
interesting incident. It seemed to European readers 
like a breath of forest breeze. It was the beginning 
of one of the great literary successes of history. 
Between the years 1820 and 1850 Cooper published 
thirty-nine different works, of which thirty-two are 
novels ; besides a large number of articles, controver- 
sial, historical, political, and on other topics. Among 
these works was "The History of the Navy of the 
United States," which will always be a standard on its 
subject. The novels were written very rapidly, and 
they vary greatly in interest and excellence. There 
are two series of five each, however, which will prob- 
ably always be read with pleasure. They are the 
five " Leatherstocking " tales: " The Pioneer," " The 
Last of the Mohicans," "The Prairie," "The Path- 
finder," "The Deerslayer " ; and the five sea tales: 
"The Pilot," "The Red Rover," "The Water Witch," 
"The Two Admirals," "Wing and Wing." These 
owe their special excellence largely to the fact that 
the frame in which the picture is placed is the actual 
early experience of the author. The first series re- 
produces the scenery and the life of his home in the 
forests of central New York. The second repro- 
duces the life and scenes of his five years of sea 
experience. The " Leatherstocking " series takes 



1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 135 

its name from the leading character in some of them 
and a prominent character in all ; a trapper and 
hunter named Natty Bumppo, but called '' Deer- 
slayer," " Leatherstocking," " Hawkeye," and other 
names in the different books. He is one of the living 
characters of fiction ; perhaps more perfect than 
is exactly natural ; but a real, living, breathing, lov- 
ing, lovable man. Says Lowell, in the '' Fable for 
Critics " : 

He has drawn you one character, though, that is new, 
One wild flower he's plucked that is wet with the dew 
Of this fresh Western world, and, the thing not to mince, 
He has done naught but copy it ill ever since.. 

The men who have given to one character life 

And objective existence are not very rife ; 

You may number them all, both prose writers and singers. 

Without overrunning the bounds of your fingers, 

And Natty won't go to oblivion quicker 

Than Adams the Parson or Primrose the Vicar. 

There is a story that the other series was begun 
at the suggestion of a discussion about the author- 
ship of Scott's ''Pirate." This had just appeared 
"by the Author of Waverley," and ''the Author of 
Waverley" was still a literary secret. Cooper main- 
tained that the book showed unmistakable signs of 
being the work of a landsman. The thought sug- 
gested the idea of writing a book which should 
utilize his own sea experiences; and "The Pilot" 
was the result. These sea stories are bright and 
breezy, as such tales ought to be. They do not con- 
tain any character which has impressed itself on the 



136 Period of the Early Nineteenth Ce7itiiry [1800 

world's imagination as has that of " Leatherstock- 
ing." But in incident and descriptive power they 
are probably equal to the other series. One could 
select a few of Cooper's other stories, as '' The Spy," 
" Satanstoe," or '' Lionel Lincoln," which are individ- 
ually equal to any of the ten already mentioned. 
But, partly from their mutual connection, partly 
from their reproduction of his own experiences, and 
partly from their inherent superiority, the books of 
these two series are likely always to be the most 
popular of Cooper's writings. Take for special study 
a passage from " The Pioneers " describing a deer 
hunt in the water, and introducing Natty Bumppo 
and the Indian Mohegan. 

THE PIONEERS, CHAPTER XXVII 

The buck was now within fifty yards of his pursuers, 
cutting the water gallantly, and snorting at each breath 
with terror and his exertions, while the canoe seemed to 
dance over the waves, as it rose and fell with the undu- 
slations made by its own motion. Leatherstocking raised 
his rifle and freshened the priming, but stood in suspense 
whether to slay his victim or not. 

"Shall I, John, or no?" he said. "It seems but a 
poor advantage to take of the dumb thing, too. I won't ; 

10 it has taken to the water on its own natur', which is the 
reason that God has given to a deer, and I'll give it the 
lake play ; so, John, lay out your arm, and mind the turn 
of the buck; it's easy to catch them, but they'll turn 
like a snake." 

15 The Indian laughed at the conceit of his friend, but 
continued to send the canoe forward with a velocity that 
proceeded much more from his skill than his strength. 



1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 137 

Both of the old men now used the language of the Dela- 
wares when they spoke. 

20 " Hugh ! " exclaimed Mohegan ; " the deer turns his 
head. Hawkeye, hft your spear." 

Natty never moved abroad without taking with him 
every implement that might, by possibihty, be of service 
in his pursuits. From his rifle he never parted ; and 

25 although intending to fish with the line, the canoe was 
invariably furnished with all of its utensils, even to its 
grate. This precaution grew out of the habits of the 
hunter, who was often led, by his necessities or his sports, 
far beyond the limits of his original destination. A few 

30 years earlier than the date of our tale, the Leatherstock- 
ing had left his hut on the shores of the Otsego, with his 
rifle and his hounds, for a few days' hunting in the hills ; 
but before he returned he had seen the waters of Ontario. 
One, two, or even three hundred miles had once been 

35 nothing to his sinews, which were now a little stifl"ened 
by age. The hunter did as Mohegan advised, and pre- 
pared to strike a blow, with the barbed weapon, into the 
neck of the buck. 

" Lay her more to the left, John," he cried, " lay her 

40 more to the left; another stroke of the paddle, and I 
have him." 

While speaking, he raised the spear, and darted it 
from him like an arrow. At that instant the buck turned, 
the long pole glanced by him, the iron striking against his 

45 horn, and buried itself, harmlessly, in the lake. 

*' Back water," cried Natty, as the canoe glided over 

the place where the spear had fallen ; " hold water, John." 

The pole soon reappeared, shooting upwards from the 

lake, and as the hunter seized it in his hand, the Indian 

50 whirled the Hght canoe round, and renewed the chase. 
But this evolution gave the buck a great advantage ; and 
it also allowed time for Edwards to approach the scene 
of action. 



138 Period of the Early Nineteenth Centiuy [1800 

" Hold your hand, Natty ! " cried the youth, '' hold 

55 your hand ! Remember it is out of season." 

This remonstrance was made as the batteau arrived 
close to the place where the deer was strugghng with the 
water, his back now rising to the surface, now sinking 
beneath it, as the waves curled from his neck, the animal 

60 still sustaining itself nobly against the odds. 

*' Hurrah ! " shouted Edwards, inflamed beyond pru- 
dence at the sight ; " mind him as he doubles — mind 
him as he doubles ; sheer more to the right, Mohegan, 
more to the right, and I'll have him by the horns ; I'll 

65 throw the rope over his antlers." 

The dark eye of the old warrior was dancing in his 
head with a wild animation, and the sluggish repose in 
which his aged frame had been resting in the canoe was 
now changed to all the rapid inflections of practised 

70 agility. The canoe whirled with each cunning evolution 
of the chase, like a bubble floating in a whirlpool ; and 
when the direction of the pursuit admitted of a straight 
course, the little bark skimmed the lake with a velocity 
that urged the deer to seek its safety in some new turn. 

75 It was the frequency of these circuitous movements, 
that, by confining the action to so small a compass, 
enabled the youth to keep near his companions. More 
than twenty times both the pursued and the pursuers 
ghded by him, jast without the reach of his oars, until 

80 he thought the best way to view the sport was to remain 
stationary, and by watching a favorable opportunity, assist 
as much as he could, in taking the victim. 

He was not required to wait long, for no sooner had 
he adopted this resolution, and risen in the boat, than 

85 he saw the deer coming bravely towards him, with an 
apparent intention of pushing for a point of land at some 
distance from the hounds, who were still barking and 
howling on the shore. Edwards caught the painter of 
his skifl", and, making a noose, cast it from him with all 



1850] Narrative Prose. Fiction 139 

90 his force, and luckily succeeded in drawing its knot close 
around one of the antlers of the buck. 

For one instant, the skiff was drawn through the water, 
but in the next, the canoe glided before it, and Natty, 
bending low, passed his knife across the throat of the 

95 animal, whose blood followed the wound, dyeing the 
waters. The short time that was passed in the last strug- 
gles of the animal was spent by the hunters in bringing 
their boats together, and securing them in that position, 
when Leatherstocking drew the deer from the water, and 

100 laid its lifeless form in the bottom of the canoe. He 
placed his hands on the ribs, and on different parts of 
the body of his prize, and then, raising his head, he 
laughed in his peculiar manner. 

" So much for Marmaduke Temple's law ! " he said. 

105 " This warms a body's blood, old John ; I haven't killed 
a buck in the lake before this, sin' many a year. I call 
that good venison, lad ; and I know them that will relish 
the creatur's steaks, for all the betterments in the land." 

This is a good example of Cooper's style in narra- 
tion. The movement is notably rapid. The selection 
is brief ; and yet contains a good deal. There is one 
sentence at lines 1-5, the opening sentence of the 
selection, in v^hich the movements of the deer and 
of the canoe are both described, and in which each 
helps to make the other more vivid. The light, quick 
motion of the canoe is repeatedly indicated, as in 
lines 16, 46, 50, 70, and 73. There is one passage, 
lines 22-36, which delays the progress of the story. 
It seems hardly worth while for the author to enter 
upon this long explanation, to account for the spear 
being ready when it is needed. Also Natty's little 
speech at hnes 8-14, seems a rather formal one for 



140 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

the time and the occasion. But this touch of for- 
maHty, and disposition to reason out the grounds of 
his actions, is a characteristic of '' Leatherstocking." 
The gentleness and essential justness of his character 
are suggested by the same words and by the action 
which accompanies them. The contrasted character 
of the Indian, Mohegan, is indicated in lines 15, and 
66-70. The conversation in this passage is skilfully 
used to advance the narration. Notice how this is 
done at lines 20, 40, 46. In each of these places, a 
few words from the actors suggest what would have 
required one or two sentences of direct narration. 
This gives variety to the story, and introduces the 
dramatic element ; in which the story tells itself in the 
acts and words of the persons. It is in such scenes 
as this that Cooper's most characteristic and best 
work is done. It was this which gave him his great 
popularity in Europe. It was a new sensation in 
Literature, to be taken thus into the woods, and 
brought into contact with the American hunter and 
with the Indian. Cooper has been criticised for 
ascribing virtues to such Indians as Mohegan, which 
the critics do not believe belong to the Indian char- 
acter. But Cooper does not fail to introduce cruel 
and treacherous characters among his Indians ; and 
it is fair to presume that his conception of the Indian 
character, based as it is on personal knowledge of 
many individuals, is at least as likely to be correct as 
is that of his critics. 



1850] Questions 141 



QUESTIONS 

What was Poe's first successful story ? What relation did John 
Pendleton Kennedy have to Poe^s career? When and under what 
title was his first collection of " Tales ^^ issued ? What are some 
of the striking qualities of these ? What are some of the most 
powerful of them? How have Poe's stories been imitated by 
other writers ? To what class of fiction do they belong ? Give 
some of the striking peculiarities of style in " The Fall of the 
House of Usher." What is Poe's special strength as a writer of 
fiction? What is his weakness? What are some of the writings 
of William Ware? Give some account of the writings of William 
Gilmore Simms and of Catharine Maria Sedgwick. What writer 
of this period had a share in one of Thackeray's novels ? What 
are the names of some of Kennedy's novels ; and what is their 
general character? Give some account of the life and writings 
of James Kirke Paulding. 

When was James Fenimore Cooper born, and where was his 
early life spent? Give the principal incidents of his career. 
What was the cause of his peculiar unpopularity? What was his 
first novel, and when was it published? When did " The Spy " 
appear? Give a general account of Cooper's writings. What 
two series of stories are of special excellence? What character 
gives name to one of these series? In the selection from "The 
Pioneers," show how the rapid movement of the narrative is 
secured. What passage delays the story? How is character 
suggested? How is conversation used to advance the story? 
What is the quality in Cooper's work which gave him great popu- 
larity in Europe? Is his treatment of Indian character just ? 



CHAPTER VI 

Period of the Early Nineteenth Century 
1800-1850 

WASHINGTON IRVING 

The publication of the early numbers of ** The 
Sketch Book," in 18 19, marks an epoch in American 
prose, distinct and important as that for American 
poetry marked by the appearance of " Thanatopsis " 
two years earlier. That is, it marks the point of 
time when a thoroughly standard work appears from 
the pen of an American author. It is not that Irving 
shows no traces of the influence of the masters of 
English Literature. On the contrary, we inevitably 
think of Addison, Steele, and Goldsmith when we read 
Irving. But the matter of consequence is that Irving 
is praised, not because he resembles these authors — 
if, indeed, it can be said with strict truth that he does 
resemble them — but for the qualities of style which 
are his own. One may as justly inquire whether 
Goldsmith is like Irving as whether Irving is like 
Goldsmith. In other words, Irving is a classic 
author ; one who sets the standard for other writers. 
It is not necessary to maintain that he is one of the 
greatest of writers ; nor even that he is in a strict 
sense of the word great. But it is safe to say 

142 




J^^"^"-^ <^J^' 



^^-ai-tf^z-V 



y^^^Cc^^ 




1 800-1850] WasJiington Irving 143 

that he is, without reference to comparative esti- 
mates, good. Here, in Irving's work, is gold coin 
of standard fineness, money of ultimate redemption 
in the currency of the world's Literature. 

On account of this peculiarly important place in 
our Literature, and because he illustrates in his works 
four distinct types of prose composition, namely, 
fiction, history, biography, and the essay, a complete 
chapter is given to the study of his writings. 

Washington Irving was born in New York in the Washington 
year 1783. His father was a successful business in New York. 

man, and was able to afford his son all needed ^783; died, 

1859. 

opportunities for education. Delicate health and 
consequent indecision as to his professional career, 
however, prevented his taking the usual course of 
study. One incident growing out of this delicacy of 
physical constitution seems in itself unimportant; 
but doubtless had an important bearing on his lit- 
erary work. It was a long voyage on the Hudson 
River. That would be a commonplace matter now, 
in a steamboat which traverses the whole length of 
the river in a day. But, as Irving took it, in a 
sailing vessel, which leisurely crossed and recrossed, 
and penetrated bays and creeks along the shore, the 
voyage was an experience to be remembered ; and is 
reflected in many charming pages of his books. The 
same delicacy of health called for a season of Euro- 
pean travel, which added another important element 
of culture to the preparation for his literary career. 
Of even greater consequence was an experience too 
sacred for careless mention, which yet should always 



144 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 



" Salma- 
gundi," 1807. 



" Knicker- 
bocker's 
History of 
New York,' 
1809. 



be borne in mind in considering Irving's life and work. 
It was the great sorrow which befell him in the death 
of the lady whom he had chosen for his wife. How 
deep that sorrow was may be partly inferred from 
the fact that, so far as the public knows, he never 
thought of love or marriage again. And it was 
doubtless out of that trouble that some of the most 
precious elements of his beautiful style were drawn. 

This early period of Irving's life produced a series 
of works quite clearly distinguished in subject and in 
mode of treatment from most of the writings that 
came later. In 1807 a literary partnership was 
formed with his older brother William and with 
James K. Paulding, for the purpose of issuing a 
series of papers somewhat on the plan of ''The 
Spectator." The name "Salmagundi" which was 
given to the papers means a Dutch dish, composed 
of chopped onions, salt fish, pickles, and some other 
ingredients. The design was to have a spicy, pungent, 
partly humorous paper, which should have a solid 
foundation, corresponding to the salt fish, of sub- 
stantial sense. "Salmagundi" was very popular, 
especially the papers of which Washington Irvdng 
was the author. We notice that this, like Cooper's 
first work, was essentially an imitation of a British 
model. Like Cooper, Indng made a much more 
important essay in Literature and achieved a much 
more substantial success when he ceased to imitate, 
and brought out a thoroughly American production. 
This he did in " Knickerbocker's History of New 
York," which he published in 1809. It is a piece of 



1850] WasJiington Irving 145 

rollicking fun. It follows the general lines of the 
history of the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam ; 
but turns the whole story into the most delicious 
nonsense. Those old Dutchmen were solid, serious, 
earnest-minded people, with a due sense of their own 
importance. But Irving's humor frisks around their 
portly bodies and tickles their solemn sides in a most 
irreverent manner. This book was probably the first 
in America to bring its author a considerable financial 
return. It is said to have paid him three thousand 
dollars. But what was of more importance, it gained 
its author a recognized place among the writers of 
his time ; and thus prepared the way for the more 
important work which was to follow. This, however, 
did not appear for nearly ten years. Irving was 
trying his hand at legal and at mercantile business ; 
was travelling in England and on the Continent of 
Europe ; was brooding over that voyage on the Hud- 
son and over other memories of his life. The failure 
of the mercantile business in which he was associated 
with his brothers — most fortunate failure for the 
world — drove him to his pen again; and in 18 19 
to 1820, in successive numbers, appeared ''The Sketch -The Sketch 
Book." This must be regarded as the culmination of \l^'' ^^^^~ 
his literary career. Although what he wrote later 
is of much greater bulk, and was at first more widely 
read, Irving's fame will always rest mainly upon the 
apparently slight sketches which are brought together 
in this book. It contains ''Rip Van Winkle," the 
immortal tale of the twenty years' sleep, and " The 
Legend of Sleepy Hollow." These two sketches have 



146 Period of the Early Nmeteenth Century [1800 

embalmed the scenery and the associations of the 
Hudson forever in the world's Literature, and have 
made Irving's name a household word. In "The 
Sketch Book " Irving is at his best. The humor is 
delicate and penetrating. It is of the kind that keeps 
the reader smiling with a satisfied sense of pleasure, 
rather than of the sort that makes him break out in 
broad laughter. It is combined with a tender pathos. 
As in all humor of the higher type, the smile is not 
far from the tear. The style has a little of Old World 
formality ; but its carefully balanced sentences are 
never stiff ; and its elegant phrases are never offen- 
sively artificial. It becomes a little old-fashioned and 
takes on the flavor of the antique as the years roll 
by ; but is not likely ever to become antiquated. 
"Brace- ^^ " Braccbridge Hall," a volume of papers not unlike 

bridge Hall'' . 1 -rk i ,, i t 1 i • r. 

1822. those m "The Sketch Book, was published m 1822. 

It takes its name from the English country house 
which is supposed to be the place of the author's 
entertainment, while he gives a series of charming 
sketches of English country life, interspersed with 
stories from Spain, France, and old New York. It 
"Tales of a was followed in 1824 by "Tales of a Traveller," a 
isTI^ ^'^' collection of stories the scenes of which are placed 
some in England, some in Italy, and some in America. 
In the year 1826, Irving was appointed to a posi- 
tion in connection with the United States Legation 
at Madrid. In this situation he naturally entered 
upon studies and researches in Spanish history, the 
result of which is seen in many of his later works. 
Here for a time he lived, at Granada, within the 



1850] WasJiingto7i Irving 147 

precincts of the ruined Moorish palace, the Alham- 
bra. His mind became steeped in the historical and 
legendary events associated with the long occupation 
of Spain by the Moors, and the contest between them 
and the Christian knights of the Middle Ages ; the 
contest which ended with the expulsion of the Moors 
from Granada at the very time of the discovery of 
America by Columbus. In 1829 he was transferred 
to England, where he remained for three years. In 
1842 he returned to Spain for a four years' term as 
United States minister. 

The first important result of Irving's Spanish 
studies was *'The Life and Voyages of Columbus," "Life of 
which appeared in 1828. He had begun to trans- 1828. 
late Navarete's "Voyages of Columbus"; but before 
the translation was completed resolved to prepare, 
instead, an original work. This was followed by 

" Conquest 

"The Conquest of Granada," 1829; "The Compan- of Granada; 
ions of Columbus," 1831; and "The Alhambra," 1832. ^y- 
"The Conquest of Granada" and "The Alhambra" panionsof 
show Irving's style at a pitch of excellence almost as Columbus, ' 
high as that of "The Sketch Book." The charm of ..-phe 

humor is lacking ; but the romantic atmosphere of Aihambra," 

1832. 
the period he was describing and of the place in 

which he was living was congenial to another side 

of his nature. His beautiful art of narration appears "Crayon 

in these works at its best. Some further Spanish nies/^is'ss. 

studies appeared, with other matters, in the " Crayon "Astoria" 

Miscellanies," which was published in 1835. Upon ^^36. 

this followed "Astoria," in 1836,. and "The Advent- 11^'^*'''" .. 

' -^ ' Bonneville,- 

ures of Captain Bonneville," 1837. These last two 1837. 



148 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

books are illustrations of the beginnings of the move- 
ment for the opening and settlement of the country 
between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. 
"Astoria" describes the effort to establish a fur- 
trading post on the Pacific coast, and Captain Bonne- 
ville was one of the most famous explorers of the 
time. "Astoria" is, for the most part, a thrilling 
story of the adventures of a party who made their 
way on horseback, on foot, and by canoe, from St. 
Louis to the Pacific. They were sixteen months 
accomplishing the journey which now occupies three 
days, and suffered incredible hardships. It is a story 
which will surely grow in historical interest with the 
passing years. 

From the time of his return from Spain in 1846, 
Irving spent his life at his home on the Hudson, 
called Sunnyside. His attention during these latter 
yea rs was turned almost exclusively to historical and 
biographical work. The work was not so congenial 
as that of the earlier periods, and the style is conse- 

" Oliver 

Goldsmith " qucntly not so easy. " The Life of Oliver Gold- 

" Mahomet," smith" and "Mahomet and his Successors" 
1849. 

appeared in 1849. He had for a long time been 

planning a life of Washington, and had done some 
little work upon it, and he now bent himself seri- 
ously to this task which, in some aspects, seemed 
to be the most important work of his life. In the 
meantime, in 1855, he issued another volume of 
"Woiferfs miscellanies called "Wolfert's Roost." He toiled 

Roost," 1855. Ill ' ^ r ' 

on, as he could get opportunity and courage tor it, 

"Washing- 
ton," 1859. upon the " Life of Washington," until it finally ap- 



1850] Washmgton Irving 149 

peared in 1859, when Death took the pen from his 
fingers and his work was done. 

Washington Irving was the centre of our first im- 
portant group of hterary men. Boston and Phila- 
delphia had been commercial centres before New 
York, and we have seen that the l itera ry life of 
America, centred during the colonial period at 
Boston, and during the Revolution and the years 
immediately following, at Philadelphia. But New 
York was now beginning to take that position of 
commercial supremacy which it has held so long; 
and naturally drew to itself a large share of the 
literary activity of the country. Bryant from New 
England, and Poe from Virginia, gravitated to the 
common centre ; Halleck and Drake, Willis and 
Morris, complete the little group of poets. Cooper 
was writing his series of novels, first at his home in 
Westchester County, just out of the city, and later at 
Cooperstown ; and Paulding was illustrating the old 
Dutch life of New York, and was associated with 
Irving in the "Salmagundi" papers. These names 
are enough to show that we had then a very inter- 
esting group of literary men, of which Washington 
Irving may well be regarded as the central figure. 

Irving may be considered our first distinguished 
man of letters. That is, he was the first man of re- 
markable literary powers to give the main effort of 
his life to Literature. His official positions were 
avowedly given to him for the purpose of enabling 
him to devote himself to literary work without anx- 
iety as to his support. It was not then felt that a 



150 Period of the Early NincteeiitJi Century [1800 

literary man should expect to sustain himself by the 
product of his pen. It was not thought proper for 
our Government to give direct pensions in such 
cases ; and the diplomatic service was used in Irving's 
case, as it has since been used in the case of others, 
to honor and assist a great literary worker. Irving 
discharged the duties of his official positions with 
dignity and success ; but he will be remembered, of 
course, not as the minister to Spain, but as the 
author of " Rip Van Winkle." 

We can hardly fail to observe the change in the 
^pe of Irving's writings with the progress of his 
life. The earlier work is marked by a spontaneity 
and ease of style, which do not, to so high a degree, 
characterize the later. Humor is much more promi- 
nent in the first books, and there is a deepening 
seriousness as the years go by. With the Spanish 
experiences comes the interest in Spanish history and 
the subjects associated with it, such as the origin of 
the Saracen power in the life of Mahomet, and the 
career of Columbus. With his return to America, 
we find a deepening interest in the history of our 
own land, exemplified in the " Life of Washington." 
His three years' sojourn in England and his other 
visits there are reflected in some of his most charm- 
ing papers, in *' Bracebridge Hall" and in ''The 
Sketch Book." Indeed, this part of his life and 
writings is among the most important of all. The 
very fact that he held so honorable and so assuredly 
independent a position in the world of letters made 
it the easier for him to feel, and make his country- 



1850] Washington Irvmg 151 

men feel with him, the indissokible bonds which hold 
every intelligent and thoughtful American to the 
country of our fathers. Remembering how soon after 
the Revolution Irving lived, so that Washington is 
said to have held him once in his arms, and that his 
life included the years of the second war with Great 
Britain, we must admire the serene elevation of soul 
which enabled so true an American to lose his national 
prejudices and feel and describe the beauty of Eng- 
lish life and character. Like Lowell in our own day, 
he helped mightily to bind together the two branches 
of the great English race. ^' 

Take as an example of Irving's work, for special 
study, the passage from " Rip Van Winkle " which 
describes Rip's return to the village after his twenty 
years' sleep. 

As he approached the village, he met a number of 
people, but none whom he knew, which somewhat sur- 
prised him, for he had thought himself acquainted with 
every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was 

5 of a different fashion from that to which he was accus- 
tomed. They all stared at him with equal marks of sur- 
prise, and whenever they cast eyes upon him, invariably 
stroked their chins. The constant recurrence of this 
gesture, induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, 

10 when, to his astonishment, he found his beard had 
grown a foot long ! 

He had now entered the skirts of the village. A 
troop of strange children ran at his heels, hooting after 
him, and pointing at his gray beard. The dogs, too, 

15 not one of which he recognized for an old acquaintance, 
barked at him as he passed. The very village was 
altered : it was larger and more populous. There were 



152 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

rows of houses which he had never seen before, and 
those which had been his famihar haunts had disap- 

aopeared. Strange names were over the doors — strange 
faces at the windows — even'thing was strange. His 
mind now misgave him ; he began to doubt whether 
both he and the world around him were not bewitched. 
Surely this was his native \-illage, which he had left but 

25 a day before. There stood the Kaatskill Mountains — 
there ran the silver Hudson at a distance — there was 
every hill and dale precisely as it had always been — 
Rip was sorely perplexed. — "That flagon last night," 
thought he, " has addled my poor head sadly ! " 

30 It was with some difficulty that he found the way to 
his own house, which he approached with silent awe, 
expecting every moment to hear the shrill voice of Dame 
Van Winkle. He found the house gone to decay — the 
roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors oft 

35 the hinges. A half-starved dog, that looked hke Wolf, 
was skulking about it. Rip called him by name, but the 
cur snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This was 
an unkind cut indeed. — " ]My very dog," sighed poor 

40 Rip, "has forgotten me I " 

He entered the house, which, to tell the truth. Dame 
Van Winkle had always kept in neat order. It was 
empty, forlorn, and apparently abandoned. This deso- 
lateness overcame all his connubial fears — he called 
loudly for his wife and children — the lonely chambers 

45 rang for a moment ^dth his voice, and then all again 
was silence. 

He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, 
the village inn — but it too was gone. A large rickets- 
wooden building stood in its place, with great gaping 

50 windows, some of them broken, and mended with old 
hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, " The 
Union Hotel, by Jonathan Doohttle." Instead of the 
great tree that used to shelter the quiet little Dutch 



1850] Washington Irving 153 

inn of yore, there now was reared a tall naked pole, 

55 with something on the top that looked Hke a red night- 
cap, and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a 
singular assemblage of stars and stripes — all this was 
strange and incomprehensible. He recognized on the 
sign, however, the ruby face of King George, under 

60 which he had smoked so many a peaceful pipe, but 
even this was singularly metamorphosed. The red coat 
was changed for one of blue and buff, a sword was held 
in the hand instead of a sceptre, the head was decorated 
with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large 

65 characters. General Washington. 

There was, as usual, a crowd of folk about the door, 
but none that Rip recollected. The very character of 
the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, 
disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed 

70 phlegm and drowsy tranquillity. He looked in vain for 
the sage Nicholas Vedder, with his broad face, double 
chin, and fair long pipe, uttering clouds of tobacco smoke, 
instead of idle speeches ; or Van Bummel, the school- 
master, doling forth the contents of an ancient newspaper. 

75 In place of these, a lean bilious-looking fellow, with his 
pockets full of handbills, was haranguing vehemently 
about rights of citizens — election — members of Con- 
gress — liberty — Bunker's hill — heroes of seventy-six 
— and other words that were a perfect Babylonish jargon 

80 to the bewildered Van Winkle. 

The appearance of Rip, with his long, grizzled beard, 
his rusty fowling-piece, his uncouth dress, and the army 
of women and children that had gathered at his heels, 
soon attracted the attention of the tavern politicians. 

85 They crowded round him, eying him from head to foot, 
with great curiosity. The orator bustled up to him, and 
drawing him partly aside, inquired, " on which side he 
voted?" Rip stared in vacant stupidity. Another short 
but busy little fellow pulled him by the arm, and rising 



154 Period of the Early Ni7ieteenth Century [1800 

90 on tiptoe, inquired in his ear " whether he was Federal 
or Democrat." Rip was equally at a loss to comprehend 
the question ; when a knowing, self-important old gentle- 
man, in a sharp cocked hat, made his way through the 
crowd, putting them to the right and left with his elbows 
95 as he passed, and planting himself before Van Winkle, 
wath one arm akimbo, the other resting on his cane, his 
keen eyes and sharp hat penetrating, as it were, into his 
very soul, demanded in an austere tone, " what brought 
him to the election with a gun on his shoulder, and a 
100 mob at his heels, and whether he meant to breed a riot 
in the village?" 

"Alas! gentlemen," cried Rip, somewhat dismayed, 
" I am a poor, quiet man, a native of the place, and a 
loyal subject of the King, God bless him ! " 
105 Here a general shout burst from the bystanders — "a 
tory ! a tory ! a spy ! a refugee ! hustle him ! away 
with him 1" 

It was with great difficulty that the self-important man 
in the cocked hat restored order ; and having assumed a 
no tenfold austerit}^ of brow, demanded again of the unknown 
culprit, what he came there for, and whom he was seeking. 
The poor man humbly assured him that he meant no 
harm, but merely came there in search of some of his 
neighbors, who used to keep about the tavern. 
115 ''Well — who are they? — name them." 

Rip bethought himself a moment, and inquired, 
"Where's Nicholas Vedder?" 

There was a silence for a little while, when an old man 

repHed, in a thin, piping voice, " Nicholas Vedder ? Why, 

120 he is dead and gone these eighteen years ! There was a 

wooden tombstone in the churchyard that used to tell all 

about him, but that's rotten and gone too." 

" Where's Brom Dutcher? " 

"Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning of the 
125 war; some say he was killed at the storming of Stony 



1850] WasJmtgton Irving 155 

Point — others say he was drowned in the squall, at the 
foot of Antony's Nose. I don't know — he never came 
back again." 

"Where's Van Bummel, the schoolmaster?" 

130 " He went off to the wars, too ; was a great militia 
general, and is now in Congress." 

Rip's heart died away, at hearing of these sad changes 
in his home and friends, and finding himself thus alone in 
the world. Every answer puzzled him, too, by treating 

135 of such enormous lapses of time, and of matters which he 
could not understand : war — Congress — Stony Point ! 
— he had no courage to ask after any more friends, but 
cried out in despair, " Does nobody here know Rip 
Van Winkle?" 

140 " Oh, Rip Van Winkle ! " exclaimed two or three. 
" Oh, to be sure ! that's Rip Van Winkle yonder, lean- 
ing against the tree." 

Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of him- 
self as he went up the mountain ; apparently as lazy and 

145 certainly as ragged. The poor fellow was now completely 
confounded. He doubted his own identity, and whether 
he was himself or another man. In the midst of his 
bewilderment, the man in the cocked hat demanded who 
he was, and what was his name ? 

150 " God knows," exclaimed he at his wit's end ; " Pm 
not myself — I'm somebody else — that's me yonder — 
no — that's somebody else, got into my shoes — I was 
myself last night, but I fell asleep on the mountain, and 
they've changed my gun, and everything's changed, and 

155 I'm changed, and I can't tell what's my name, or who 
I am." 

Notice how just the points of change which a man 
like Rip would observe are indicated, and how the 
change is emphasized by contrast with the unchang- 



156 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

ing mountains and river, lines 12-29. Then as he 
comes to his own old home, the half-starved dog ap- 
pears, and suggests the pathetic words, " My very 
dog has forgotten me," lines 30-40. The changes 
about the inn, the crowd of strange people, the 
strange subjects of their talk, the discovery that one 
and another of his old friends is gone, till he cries, 
"Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle?" line 
138, — these all lead up to the discovery of his coun- 
terpart, in the person of his son, now a grown 
man. There is an indescribable blendins: of humor 
and pathos in the poor fellow's utter confusion 
— '•' They've changed my gun, and everything's 
changed, and I'm changed, and I can't tell what's 
my name, or who I am," lines 154-156. The suc- 
cessive pictures in this bit of descriptive narration 
are worth careful study. First the general appear- 
ance of the village, as he comes into it, is indicated 
by a few particulars and by contrast with the natural 
scenery around. Then the ruined home is put be- 
fore us in three lines of suggestion, so that an artist 
could paint a picture of the place, with the homeless 
dog and the homeless man. Then we are shown the 
village inn with its pretension and unthrift, with the 
indications of the changed times in the change of 
name and sign and the appearance of the liberty 
pole. Notice how the concrete particulars, which 
IrA'ing uses in these descriptions, make a vivid 
picture, instead of the dim, colorless impression 
which would have been produced by such general 
terms as we have used in writing of it. In the same 



1850] Washijigton Irving 157 

way two or three individuals are picked out of the 
crowd, and without being named are yet perfectly 
individualized by suggestive words. The orator 
"bustled" up to him, line S6\ the "short, busy little 
fellow rising on tiptoe inquired in his ear," lines 89- 
90; "the self-important old gentleman, in a sharp 
cocked hat," "with one arm akimbo, the other rest- 
ing on his cane," " planted himself before Van 
Winkle," lines 92-96. It would be a dull imagina- 
tion indeed which could fail to see these forms. 
This vividness is secured mainly by suggestion. 
The particulars are few but always characteristic, 
and each one carries to an active mind the thought 
of other particulars which naturally belong with it. 
So the mind of the reader is constantly helping the 
author to make the impression clear and strong. 
The words are largely simple, strong, homely, Saxon 
derivatives. It would be interesting to compare the 
selection, on this point, with the " Essay on the 
Mutability of Literature," in the same volume, and 
see how the author suits his diction to his subject. 
If this selection is read aloud, one can hardly fail to 
notice the balance of the sentences. It is more ap- 
parent to the ear than to the eye : " A half-starved 

■^ ^ y 

dog that looked like Wolf, was skulking about it. 
Rip called him by name, but the cur snarled, showed 
his teeth, and passed on," lines 35-37. The accented 
words call attention to the natural points of empha- 
sis, and it will be seen that the sentence is rhythmical. 
This will be found true of most of the descriptive 
and narrative passages. It is not obtrusive. One 



158 Period of tJie Early NineteoitJi Centujy [1800-50 

does not fall into a sing-song tone in reading it. But 
the rhythm is unmistakable and lends a peculiar at- 
traction to the style. It would be useful for the 
student to carry this analysis of Irving's style still 
further, and look for himself into the secret of its 
charm. For here we are dealing with one of the 
great masters in the use of the English language. 

QUESTIONS 

What is the special importance of the work of Washington 
Irving in American Literature? Give some of the principal in- 
cidents of his early life. What great sorrow strongly affected 
his career? What public offices did he hold, and how did they 
influence his literary work ? Where and how did he spend the 
last years of his life? Of what group of literary men was he the 
central figure? What were the " Salmagundi'' papers, and when 
were they published? Describe ''Knickerbocker's History of 
New York."' When was ^^ The Sketch Book" published, and 
what position does it hold among his works? What two particu- 
larly famous stories does it contain ? What works followed this ? 
What is the quality of Irving's humor? What are the chief 
works which show the influence of his life in Spain? Describe 
"Astoria" and '-The Adventures of Captain Bonneville." 
What were Irving's principal biographical works? In the selec- 
tion from •' Rip Van Winkle " note the especially suggestive 
points of description at the beginning. What notable blending 
of humor and pathos is there? How are the pictures made 
vivid ? How are the characters individualized ? What is the 
character of the diction? What peculiar quality is noticeable in 
the sentence structure? 



CHAPTER VII 

Period of the Early Nineteenth Century, 
I 800-1 850 

BIOGRAPHY. HISTORY. THE ESSAY. ORATORY 

An author of this period who has gathered and 
arranged materials for the biographical work of many 
others, is Jared Sparks, professor at Harvard College jared 
and afterwards its president. He published, in 1837, i^8^q-i866 
a " Life of Washington " ; edited Washington's writ- 
ings and correspondence ; was the editor of a series 
of volumes of American Biography, of which he 
wrote a number of the lives himself ; edited the 
works of Franklin, with a biography; and published 
a large amount of other biographical material. 

With this period begins the careful study of his- 
tory and its record in works of enduring literary 
value by American writers. The first name to be 
mentioned is that of George Bancroft, who devoted George 
a long and honored life to writing the early history born in Mas- 
of the United States. His life extended into our own sachusetts 

1800; died 

times, and his work appeared at intervals during atWashing- 
all these years. It was planned, however, and the jg^j^ 
first volumes appeared, in the first half of the cen- 
tury ; and therefore it is properly considered here. 
Besides his literary work Bancroft was active in public 
life — in the Legislature of Massachusetts, as Secre- 

159 



i6o Period of tJic Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

tary of the Navy, and as United States minister to 
Great Britain and Germany. The first volume of 
his ''History of the United States" appeared in 1834, 
and the successive volumes followed at long inter- 
vals, during almost all his lifetime. He frequently 
revised, corrected, and enlarged his work ; and it is 
a monument of painstaking accuracy. The style is 
clear, and the diction elegant. 
William William H. Prescott was a student of history 

PrescotC from the beginning of his active life, and early 
born in Mas- selected Spanish history as his special field, plan- 

sachusetts, j >. i. 

■L-j^^i; died, ning a course of ten years' investigation, to be fol- 
^ ^^' lowed by ten years of writing. He carried out his 

plan almost literally, and in spite of difficulties which 
many would have regarded as insuperable. Losing 
the use of his eyes, he was obliged to rely upon the 
services of a reader for his studies, and to devise 
some method of composition which should be practi- 
cable for him in his blindness. Instead of dictating 
to an amanuensis, he used a writing case, consisting 
of a frame crossed bv brass wires, with a sheet of 
carbonized paper such as is used in duplicating. 
Guided by the wires, he would trace his sentence on 
the carbonized sheet, making indelible marks on the 
white paper below. In this manner Prescott pro- 
duced the books which gave him a world-wide repu- 
tation. The " Historv of Ferdinand and Isabella" 
appeared in 1837. It ^^as followed by "The Con- 
quest of Mexico," in 1843; "Biographical and Critical 
Miscellanies," in 1845; "The Conquest of Peru," in 
1847; "The Reign of Philip II," in 1855-1858. He 



1850] Exposition. The Essay 161 

also edited and republished Robertson's *' Charles V," 
adding a supplement giving the life of Charles after 
his abdication. Prescott's works, taken together, 
constitute a history of Spain, in its relations to 
America and to the Reformation, during the whole 
period of its greatness. It was a neglected field of 
history, and of special interest to American readers. 
Prescott's works met with a hearty welcome in 
Europe as well as at home. They were widely trans- 
lated ; and praised for their thorough scholarship as 
well as for their charming style. With Bancroft's 
works, they placed American historical composition 
on the same established footing which Bryant, Poe, 
Cooper, and Irving had gained for other forms of 
Literature. 

We note here the beginning of the Juvenile Liter- 
ature, which in recent times has attained such great 
proportions. Samuel Griswold Goodrich deserves Samuel 
to be called the Patriarch of this exceedingly useful Goodrich 
sort of writing ; which, however, has not in most 1793-1860. 
cases brought enduring fame to its authors. Under 
the pen name of " Peter Parley," he produced a 
series of works, mostly historical in their character, 
which were very widely read by the young people of 
the last generation. His immense volume " The His- 
tory of All Nations," with its profuse illustrations, 
queer enough, from our present standpoint of criti- 
cism, had a great deal to do with the education of 
the fathers and mothers of the present generation of 
school children. Also during this period the brothers Jacob Abbot, 
Jacob and John Stephen Cabot Abbott began to ^ °^~^ ''^" . 

M 



1 62 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 



John S. C. 

Abbott, 

1805-1877. 



issue their long and useful series of juvenile writ- 
ings. Jacob Abbott, in the '' Rollo Books," the 
** Lucy Books," and others taught many useful les- 
sons in many departments of knowledge and of good 
morals. With John S. C. Abbott he published a long 
series of biographies which helped to make the great 
men of the past familiar to a whole generation. These 
books were thoroughly wholesome in their tone ; and 
were models of clear, simple, unpretending English. 
John S. C. Abbott was especially interested in the 
Napoleon family; and besides juvenile works on 
different members of the famous Bonaparte tribe, 
wrote an extended history of the first Napoleon, 
which is an interesting work albeit somewhat rose- 
colored in its portrayal. 

One of the most popular books of this period was 
" Two Years Before the Mast," by Richard Henry 
S''-i8?2^"^' ^^^^' J^-' pubhshed in 1840. Dana had, on ac- 
count of trouble with his eyes, taken the voyage 
around Cape Horn, as a common sailor. His record 
of this experience made a book which was widely 
read at home and abroad, was translated into several 
languages, and has taken its place as a standard 
work of its kind. 

In the second division of prose composition. Ex- 
position, there are in this period many writers of 
essays and treatises whose works take rank as 
Literature. Here again we meet the name of that 
strange, brilliant, and unhappy genius, Edgar Allan 
Poe. Poe's theories as to the true principles of 
composition in prose and verse have been already 



Richard 



Exposition. 



Edgar A. 
Poe. 



1850] Exposition. The Essay 163 

mentioned. These he elaborated in a lecture, called 
''The Poetic Principle." He also wrote a semi- 
philosophical essay called " Eureka," in which he 
thought he had made a contribution to metaphysical 
discussion. But in this, Poe was undertaking work 
for which he was ill equipped, and the essay is valu- 
able chiefly as illustrating the character and genius 
of the author. In his magazine w^ork, whether as 
editor or contributor, he did valuable and interesting 
critical work. Some of his judgments were perhaps 
hasty and ill considered ; but he was keen and 
incisive ; and on the whole his critical work could ill 
be spared from the body of our Literature. 

Nathaniel Parker Willis has already been mentioned Nathaniel 
among the poets. But his chief work, both in quality wiiiis, born 
and quantity, belonsrs in this division. He was a ^^ Maine, 

^ -^' ^ 1806; died in 

charming essayist, writing delightful, gossipy papers New York, 
about men and things, at home and abroad. He ^ ''' 
loved the city and the country both. He liked so- 
ciety and he liked solitude — that is, a perfectly safe 
and comfortable solitude near home. Liking so many 
different things, he probably did not love any of 
them very intensely. At least there is nothing very 
intense in any of his work. He does not teach, or 
inspire, or disturb us with deep questionings ; but 
he entertained, amused, interested, the people of his 
time, with bright, pleasant, witty, and withal pure 
and morally wholesome essays. " Sketches," " Pen- 
cillings by the Way," " Loiterings of Travel," " Rural 
Letters," " Hurry-Graphs," are titles of some of his 
volumes which suggest the character of his work. 



164 Pe7'iod of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 



George 
Ticknor, 
born in Mas- 
sachusetts, 
1791 ; died, 
1871. 



Henry Rowe 
Schoolcraft, 
born in New 
York, 1793 ; 
died in 
Washington, 
1864. 



John James 
Audubon, 
born in 
Louisiana, 
1780; died 
in New York, 
1851. 



Of a very different nature was the literary work of 
George Ticknor. An accomplished scholar in the 
languages and literatures of Europe, he held for 
many years the chair of " Modern Languages and 
Literature " at Harvard College. He made Spanish 
Literature his specialty, and published, in 1849, his 
" History of Spanish Literature." This is a monu- 
mental work, received by scholars as authoritative in 
its department, and written in a style which renders 
it attractive to the general reader. 

Two writers of this period gave their lives to 
scientific research, and recorded the results of their 
studies in such a manner as to be read by many, 
and to exert a great influence over later writers. 
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was an enthusiastic student 
of men. He travelled extensively through the un- 
settled parts of America, and lived for months and 
years among the Indians. The results of his years 
of study appeared in a large number of Government 
Reports, and in other publications. Two of these, 
"The Myth of Hiawatha" and "The Indian Fairy 
Book," gave Longfellow the subject and a con- 
siderable part of the material of his famous poem 
"Hiawatha." 

One of the most interesting characters in Ameri- 
can life is that of John James Audubon. He was 
devoted to animals, and especially to birds, as was 
Schoolcraft to Indians. His life was largely spent in 
tramping through the woods, collecting specimens 
and preparing them for preservation. He was an 
artist of genius, and made drawings of his specimens. 



1850] The Essay. Oratory 165 

These, with written descriptions, were pubHshed dur- 
ing the years 1827 to 1853 in a series of volumes called 
"The Birds of America," ''Ornithological Biogra- 
phy," and *'The Quadrupeds of America." The 
last was completed and finally published by his sons 
after his death. ''The Birds of America," with 
"The Ornithological Biography," constitutes a very 
unique and priceless work. It was necessarily very 
costly, but it was sold in surprisingly large numbers, 
and gave its author a very high place in the scientific 
world. The combination of naturalist, artist, and 
writer was a rare one and produced a rare result. 

The theological discussions of the period have 
left their mark in Literature chiefly in the writings 
of William Ellery Channing, the great leader of the William 
Unitarian movement. He was in his youth a mem- nin^'^'born^n 
ber of the congregation of Dr. Samuel Hopkins, Rhode 

Island, 1780; 

mentioned in a previous chapter. His works were diedinVer- 
of wide influence in the religious thought of the "^°^^' "^ ^'^' 
time, and have been repeatedly republished by the 
official publishing society of the Unitarian denomi- 
nation. Thus the parts of them which really belong 
to Literature have not been separated from the mass 
of controversial matter. They are full, however, of 
passages of eloquent discussion and strong reason- 
ing. Channing was one of the great preachers of 
his day ; and so with him we naturally pass to the 
study of the great oratorical group of the period. Oratory. 
a group which has not been equalled in our history. 
The Constitution of our country has one pecu- 
liarity which has involved a great deal of discussion. 



1 66 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

That is the relation between the State and the Na- 
tional Governments. General Garfield said that 
" Unsettled questions have no respect for the repose 
of nations"; and our fathers left the question of 
the relative powers of State and Nation unsettled. 
Thus there have always been two great parties in 
our politics divided by their view of these relative 
powers. Under various names, the political parties 
have really been Federal Government or State Gov- 
ernment parties. Questions of tariff, currency, and 
internal improvements have largely turned upon in- 
terpretations of the rights and powers of the general 
Government. Closely connected with the same cen- 
tral problem was the question of slavery. Slaves 
were held in large numbers in the Southern States ; 
in comparatively small numbers, or not at all, in the 
Northern. As the Southern leaders sought for 
means and grounds of defence for slavery, they 
naturally fell back upon the right of the State to 
control its own institutions. As Northern leaders 
sought for means of restricting slavery, of prevent- 
ing its extension, of gradually securing its abolition, 
they as naturally maintained the right of the general 
Government to act in a matter which seemed to them 
to concern the interests of all. We can easily see 
that these questions would demand the greatest 
ability for their discussion. In connection with them 
issues were sure to arise which would intensely en- 
gage the feelings of the people. The question of 
slavery especially, whenever it was discussed, aroused 
great bitterness. Statesmen foresaw that it might 



1850] Oratory 167 

bring the two great sections of the country into 
armed conflict ; and the greatest and most patri- 
otic men were endeavoring to handle it in such a 
way that conflict might be avoided ; while the fer- 
vent feeling of men on both sides was constantly 
forcing it into prominence. These are some of the 
important conditions out of which the oratory of the 
time arose. 

Edward Everett represents, in a moderate medi- Edward 
ating way, the Federal view. He began life as a j^Massa-^'^'^ 
Unitarian minister, became professor of Greek at ^^usetts, 

1794 ; died, 

Harvard College, of which he was afterwards presi- 1865. 
dent; was active in politics, in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, as governor of Massachusetts, as United 
States senator, as Secretary of State, and as min- 
ister to England. But his greatest fame was gained 
by set orations delivered for special objects. Espe- 
cially famous was the oration on Washington, de- 
livered a great many times, by which a large sum 
of money was earned for the purchase and preserva- 
tion of Mount Vernon, Washington's home on the 
Potomac. Everett is our greatest example of the 
finished, polished orator. Rounded periods, classical 
allusions, and elegant diction are his characteristics. 
In these respects he is preeminent, and his works 
will always repay careful study. 

The representative of the Federal idea in the Henry ciay, 
Southern States is Henry Clay of Kentucky. He Virginia, 
was for many years a leader in the House of Rep- '^t^'^'< ^'^^ 

•' •' in Washing- 

resentatives and in the United States Senate, and ton, d. c, 
held Cabinet office. Like some other popular fa- ' ^^' 



1 68 Pejiod of the Early Ni7ietecnth Centiuy [1800 



John C. 
Calhoun, 
born in 
South Caro- 
lina, 1782; 
died in 
Washington, 
D. C, 1852. 



Daniel 
Webster, 
born in New 
Hampshire, 
1782 ; died 
in Massa- 
chusetts, 
18^2. 



vorites, however, he did not succeed in reaching 
the Presidency. He stood in the popular mind 
especially as the representative of the idea or policy 
of "Protection to American Industries," or, as he 
called it, "The American System," and of "Internal 
Improvements." His eloquence was largely de- 
pendent upon his voice and personal presence ; and 
he has not left as interesting specimens of his ora- 
tory as have his great contemporaries. 

The representative of the extreme state rights 
view is John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. He 
was one of the leaders in our politics for a genera- 
tion. In the House of Representatives and in the 
Senate, as a Cabinet officer and as Vice-President, 
he was prominently before the people. He was 
the great logician of the Senate. Granting his 
premises, it was seldom possible to deny his con- 
clusions. In weight of argument his oratory is 
probably unexcelled. It did not have the rhetorical 
brilliancy of Everett, nor the fiery force of Clay. 
But neither of these great men could have met him 
successfully in debate. That was reserved for the 
last and greatest of this remarkable group. 

Daniel Webster is by general consent given the 
first place among American orators. Like the others 
of this famous group, he served in Congress, in the 
Senate, and in the Cabinet, but never reached the 
Presidency. He is the great expounder of the Con- 
stitution, maintaining the power of the general Gov- 
ernment, as opposed to Calhoun's extreme state 
rights view. He was a man of extraordinary per- 



1850] Oratory 169 

sonal presence. The impression he made in his 
great addresses is said to have been overpowering. 
He was strong in forensic as in poHtical oratory. 
In the famous Dartmouth College case, it is said 
that he achieved the wonderful result of moving the 
judges of the Supreme Court to tears. His best- 
known speech was made in reply to Robert Y. 
Hayne, of South Carolina, who had made, in the 
Senate, an attack upon Massachusetts. On such a 
subject Webster could speak with the deepest feel- 
ing ; and this often-quoted address is perhaps the 
most famous bit of oratory in American Literature. 
A short passage from it will repay special study. 

Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massa- 
chusetts ; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and 
judge for yourselves. There is her history ; the world 
knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There 
is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill ; 
and there they will remain forever. The bones of her 
sons, falling in the great struggle for Independence, now 
lie mingled with the soil of every State from New Eng- 
land to Georgia; and there they will lie forever. And, sir, 
where American Liberty raised its first voice, and where its 
youth was nurtured and sustained, there it still lives, in the 
strength of its manhood and full of its original spirit. If 
discord and disunion shall wound it, if party strife and 
blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it, if folly and mad- 
ness, if uneasiness under salutary and necessary restraint, 
shall succeed in separating it from that Union, by which 
alone its existence is made sure, it will stand, in the end, 
by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was rocked ; it 
will stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigor it may still 
retain over the friends who gather around it ; and it will 



170 Period of the Eaidy NineteentJi Century [1800 

fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest monuments of 
its own glory, and on the very spot of its origin. 



I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the Union, 
to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. 1 
have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty 
when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken 
asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the 
precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, \ 
can fathom the depth of the abyss below ; nor could I re- 
gard him as a safe counsellor in the affairs of this govern- 
ment, whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, 
not how the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable 
might be the condition of the people when it should be 
broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have 
high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for 
us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate 
the veil. God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain 
may not rise ! God grant that on my vision never may be 
opened what lies behind ! When my eyes shall be turned 
to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see 
him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of 
a once glorious Union ; on States dissevered, discordant, 
belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it 
may be, in fraternal blood ! Let their last feeble and hnger- 
ing glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, 
now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high 
advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original 
lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star 
obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interroga- 
tory as " What is all this worth? " nor those other words of 
delusion and folly, " Liberty first and Union afterwards ; " 
but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, 
blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and 



1850] Oratory 171 

over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, 
that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart, — 
" Liberty ^j7^ Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 

This passage may be compared with that from 
Fisher Ames given in a former chapter. The 
nature of the subject and occasion will account for 
the greater warmth and more impassioned style. It 
is the closing passage of the address. The argument 
has been completed, and Webster's object now is to 
carry the feelings of his audience with him to the repu- 
diation of the idea of possible disunion. He wishes, 
also, to defend Massachusetts without intensifying 
state or sectional antagonism. So he most eloquently 
defends her by asserting that she needs no defence. 
It is a fine example of the power of understatement. 
Every one feels that he might have said far more if 
he would; and this ''far more " is more effective thus 
supplied by the reader or listener, than it would have 
been if fully stated by the speaker. He points to 
her record, specifying occasions when the glory of 
Massachusetts is combined with the glory of other 
states. Every name, such as Lexington and Bunker 
Hill, tends to arouse feelings of patriotism, to 
strengthen love for the Union, and discourage 
thoughts of disunion. Then he gives a glimpse 
of the horror of disunion. It is just enough to make 
the thought of the Union glorious by contrast. He 
will not admit the possibility of separation ; and he 
closes with the eloquent denial that there can be any 
essential conflict between liberty and union, thus 
refuting the plea of the disunionist, North and South, 



Rufus 

Choate, 

1799-1859. 



172 Period of the Early Nineteenth Century [1800 

the last sentence being the memorable utterance 
'* Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and 
inseparable." Notice the elevation of tone, the 
rhythmic swing of the sentences, the power of the 
epithets and examples chosen, the impassioned char- 
acter of the diction, all of which bring this bit of 
oratory to the very borderland of poetry. 

Forensic oratory has a distinguished representative 
in this period, — Rufus Choate, of Massachusetts. He 
was active in political life and served one term in the 
United States Senate ; but his career was chiefly in 
the law, and he is remembered for his forensic argu- 
ments and appeals. He studied with William Wirt, 
the great lawyer of the preceding generation, and 
held a similar position at the bar in his own time. 
He was a man of fine and broad culture, and proba- 
bly one of the most eloquent advocates who ever 
addressed a court. 



QUESTIONS 

Give some account of the life and works of Jared Sparks. 

Give some account of the life and works of George Bancroft. 

What special difficulty did Wilham HickUng Prescott over- 
come in his literary work? What are his principal historical 
works? Give some account of the Juvenile writings of S. G. 
Goodrich, Jacob Abbott, and John S. C. Abbott. What very 
popular book was written about this time by R. H. Dana, Jr.? 
What work was done in criticism by Edgar A. Foe? What are 
the characteristics of the essays of N. P. WiUis? Describe the 
literary work of George Ticknor. What two distinguished 
writers on scientific topics? Describe their works. What was 
the literary work of William. E. Channing? What were some 
of the conditions which influenced the political oratory of the 
period? 



1850] Qtiestions 173 

Give some account of the life and work of Edward Everett, 
Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. In the 
selection from Webster what is the general oratorical purpose? 
What example of understatement for rhetorical effect? How 
does the orator avoid rousing sectional feeling? What are some 
of the notable points of style? What distinguished forensic 
orator in this period ? 



PART THREE 

PERIOD OF THE LATER NINETEENTH 
CENTURY, 1850-1880 



CHAPTER VIII 

Period of the Later Nineteenth Century, 
1850-1880 

INTRODUCTION. SOCIAL FACTS AND FORCES 

The thirty years from i8$o to 1880 were marked 
by great movements in national life and thought. 
We are too near this period to be able to judge it 
perfectly, but we can trace some of the leading lines 
of thought and action which are reflected in the 
Literature. 

A notable characteristic of the time is the accel- Rapid 
erated rate at which the population grew, and the population, 
waste places of the western territories were occupied. 
Two chief features of this movement were the enor- 
mous increase of immigration, especially from Ireland 
and Germany, and the rapid development of steam 
transportation. We shall detect the Irish and Ger- 
man elements in our Literature ; and we shall notice 
the appearance of the railroad and the steamboat 
man. Connected with the same process of develop- 
ment is the opening of the gold mines of California, 
and the silver mines of the Rocky Mountains, bring- 
ing with it a new phase of life and experience, sure 
to find expression in a living Literature. 

Perhaps more important than all these, in its effect 

Diifusion of 

upon the literary life of our country, is the wide diffu- intelligence. 

N 177 



1/8 Period of the Later Nmeteenth Century [1850 



Common 
Schools. 



Sunday- 
schools. 



Chautauqua. 



Journalism. 



sion of intelligence during this period. The common 
school system grew to its full development, and ex- 
tended itself into all sections of the country ; and we 
thus came to have the largest reading public that has 
ever been known in history. 

With the extension of the public school, came the 
wide growth of the Sunday-school. This has, prob- 
ably, never been recognized in such a work as this, 
as an influence having any special bearing upon 
Literature. But every Sunday-school was a society 
for arousing interest in the English Bible, the great- 
est monument of English Literature. Every Sunday- 
school, moreover, with few exceptions, maintained 
a circulating library. Doubtless the ideas of those 
who managed these little libraries were often crude. 
The "good little girl who never said I won't," and 
"the good little boy who died," figured largely in 
the books they circulated. Yet these libraries tended 
strongly to foster a taste for reading ; and they were 
largely influential in leading to the development of 
juvenile Literature, which in some instances has 
reached a high point of artistic excellence. 

A very important outgrowth of the Sunday-school 
movement, in this respect, is the increase of summer 
gatherings for study and lectures, and the formation, 
all over the country, of circles for reading and study, 
— the movement whxh the name " Chautauqua " sug- 
gests to every intelligent American. 

Another sign of the same general diffusion of intel- 
ligence is the rapid growth of journalism. We have 
already noted the establishment of the first newspaper, 



i88o] Intro ditction. Social Facts and Forces 179 

in Boston, in 1690. In the period now under review, 
every community of a thousand people must have 
its newspaper or two ; and the great metropoHtan 
journals publish the material of a large volume every 
day. The honor of the first attempt to establish a 
monthly magazine probably belongs to Philadelphia, First 
where, in 1741, Franklin conducted from February to Magazine, 
July ''The General Magazine and Historical Chroni- ^74i- 
cle for all the British Plantations in America," and 
John Webbe published three numbers of the " Ameri- 
can Magazine ; or a Monthly View of the Political 
State of the British Colonies." Thomas Paine con- 
ducted " The Pennsylvania Magazine ; or American 
Monthly Museum " at Philadelphia for about a year, 
1775-1776; and issued the "Crisis" at irregular 

intervals from 1776 to 1783. The "Portfolio" was The "Port- 
folio." 
established in Philadelphia, 1801, by Joseph Dennie 

(" Oliver Oldschool "). At first a weekly publication, 
it afterwards became a monthly, and as such lasted 
till 1827. Charles Brockden Brown and John Quincy 
Adams were among its contributors. This probably 
deserves the honorable place of the first monthly 
magazine to reach a really vigorous life in America. 
The year 181 5 saw the establishment of the "North 
American Review," which had the honor of first pre- 
senting Bryant's "Thanatopsis " to the public ; which 
for many years was a dignified literary and philo- 
sophical quarterly ; and which now is published in 
New York as a political monthly. "The Knicker- 
bocker; or New York Monthly Magazine" was 
founded in 1833, and lived till 1858. In the follow- 



i8o Period of the Later NineteentJi Century [1850 

ing year, 1834, "The Southern Literary Messenger" 
was estabhshed in Richmond, Virginia. Poe was 
its editor till 1837. In 1847 John R. Thompson, 
an accomplished literary man who, unfortunately, 
has left very little of permanent value, took charge 
of this magazine, and under his direction its career 
was a brilliant one. Donald G. Mitchell's most suc- 
cessful works made their first appearance in it ; as 
well as the early writings of John Esten Cooke, Paul 
Hamilton Hayne, and Henry Timrod. The impor- 
tant points in magazine history, from this time, are : 
the founding of '' Harper's New Monthly Magazine," 
New York, 1850; "Putnam's Monthly Magazine," 
New York, 1853; "The Atlantic Monthly," Boston, 
1857; "Scribner's Monthly," New York, 1870 (be- 
came "The Century Magazine," 1881). With the 
great increase of the reading public, and the cheap- 
ening of printing, especially with the development of 
the art of reproducing engravings by photographic 
processes, the number of magazines has multiplied 
until it would require a volume to describe them all. 
The monthly magazine has been one of the great 
influences in our Literature. It has afforded an easy 
way of access to the public ; and a very large pro- 
portion of all the Literature of the past fifty years 
has made its first appearance in the pages of one or 
another of these monthlies. 
Annuals. A peculiar feature of the publishing business of 

the early part of this period and the later part of the 
preceding was the "Annual." This was a collection 
of miscellaneous writings, stories, essays, and verse, 



i88o] Introdtiction. Social Facts and Forces i8r 

bound in attractive forms, usually illustrated with 
steel-plate engravings, and issued at about Christmas 
time. They were much used as inexpensive and 
graceful presents. They had such titles as " The 
Token," or ''The Talisman," and some of them were 
issued for a number of successive years. Some of 
Hawthorne's earliest writings were first published in 
"The Token." 

Leading in the movement for the diffusion of intel- 
ligence were the colleges and universities. Soon Colleges, 
after Harvard, 1636, followed the College of William 
and Mary in Virginia, 1693, and Yale, in Connecti- 
cut, 1700. During the Eighteenth Century, Prince- 
ton, 1746; Columbia, originally called King's, 1754; 
Brown, 1764; Dartmouth, 1769; Rutgers, 1770; 
and Hampden Sydney, 1775, were added to the list. 
From that time the growth of the institutions for the 
higher education was very rapid. In connection with 
the public school system, there grew up a large num- 
ber of normal schools for the training of teachers. 
As largely instrumental in developing these institu- 
tions, and as a great force in the guidance of our 
educational progress in general, we should mention 
here the name of Horace Mann. There has been 
in the past fifty years, a strong tendency in the newer 
states to establish state universities and technical and 
agricultural schools. During the same period, the 
religious denominations have founded many colleges 
to insure the religious training of their youth, and 
the preparation of young men for their ministry. 
These two tendencies have resulted in a great and, 



1 82 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

as many think, undue multiplication of institutions 
calling themselves colleges and universities. But 
an exceedingly valuable result of this has been the 
bringing of opportunities for more advanced study 
near to the youth of all parts of the country, and the 
establishment of centres of culture in every district. 
There can be no doubt that while the small colleges 
have tended somewhat to keep down the standard 
of scholarship, they have also tended powerfully to 
extend intelligence, and awaken the desire for thor- 
ough teaching and exact knowledge. 

An important feature of the educational history of 
the latter part of this period is the development of 
Universities, the *' University " idea. The founding of Johns Hop- 
kins University at Baltimore in 1873, as an institu- 
tion providing facilities for graduate study, gave a 
great impulse to this tendency ; and we now have 
a large number of universities, in the sense of 
schools of advanced study, carrying on non-profes- 
sional courses beyond the B. A. degree, and making 
provision for original scholarly research. 

Our country has had its full share in the great 
scientific movement which so strongly characterizes 
the present century. With us, perhaps, even more 
emphatically than with any other people, it has 
tended to take the form of material invention. We 
have been foremost in the race to apply most rapidly 
the powers of steam and electricitv to the sendee of 
industrial enterprise and domestic convenience. The 
enormous changes in our industrial and social life 
through such influences are clearly reflected in our 



i88o] Inti'odiiction. Social Facts and Forces 183 

Literature. The scientific habit of mind, which takes 

nothing for granted, but investigates all things, has 

taken strong hold upon our national way of thinking, 

and has made its mark for good and for evil upon 

our writers. 

A broad thought movement characterized the later "Transcen- 
dentalism." 
years of the previous period, and the earlier years of 

this, the most conspicuous representatives of which 
were the writers and thinkers who were called 
*' Transcendentalists." Many of those who were 
leaders of thought cannot properly be given this 
name ; but the " Transcendentalists " were leaders 
in many directions, and their special type of think- 
ing left a peculiarly deep impression upon our Liter- 
ature. The movement called " Transcendentalism " 
was, first, reactionary, in philosophy, theology, and 
morals. It was a reaction from the " Materialism " 
of the eighteenth century. It interpreted the teach- 
ings of the German philosophers, Kant, Fichte, 
Schelling, and Hegel ; receiving their teaching, how- 
ever, for the most part through Coleridge and Car- 
lyle. It was, further, a reaction from negative 
theology, not returning, however, to older views, 
except in the case of some few of its leaders, as, 
notably, Orestes A. Brownson, who went from radi- 
cal negation clear over to the Roman Catholic 
Church. It was finally a reaction from the limita- 
tions of *' Puritanism " in conduct, and sought a 
broader, freer life. 

The movement was, secondly, reformatory, look- 
ing to great improvements in social life. The most 



184 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

conspicuous illustration of this phase of it was the 
"Brook Farm" experiment. This was an attempt 
to form a "society" or "family" of intellectual peo- 
ple who should live together, and by sharing the 
necessary work, reduce it to a small amount, and 
so have leisure for studies and intellectual labor. 
George Ripley was the leader of the experiment, 
and George William Curtis, A. B. Alcott, O. A. 
Brownson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne were associ- 
ated with him. Hawthorne wrote in regard to it : 
" I went to live in Arcady, and found myself up to 
my chin in a barnyard." 

The movement was, thirdly. Literary. This has 
been its most enduring contribution to life. Its 
philosophy is not now very influential, and its re- 
form proved impracticable. But in Literature, it 
stood for {a) ideality, recognizing the mystery of 
nature and life, and exalting the spiritual ; for {U) 
hope, looking forward to better and greater days 
to come, and emphasizing the overruling power of 
good in the Universe ; for ic) brotherhood, exalting 
man as man, and lending its support to all that 
tended to bring men together, and lift them toward 
what is higher. Of this aspect of " Transcenden- 
talism," Emerson is the chief representative ; and 
it would be difficult to estimate the extent of his 
influence on the younger writers of his time, and 
of the time closely following. 

Another characteristic feature of this period, which 
made itself strongly felt upon Literature, was the 

Antislavery 

Movement, antislavcry contest. This question we have seen 



i88o] Introduction, Social Facts and Forces 185 

forcing itself upon the attention of our public men, 
in spite of their constant efforts to keep it out of the 
way. Compromise after compromise was made and 
failed, until at last the political question narrowed 
itself to the issue whether the general Government 
could and should prevent the extension of slavery 
into the territories. On this issue Abraham Lincoln 
was elected President ; and the slave states, except 
Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, passed 
ordinances of Secession. Then followed the four 
terrible but glorious years of civil war. We shall 
find the traces of this great national struggle in all 
the Literature of the time. 

The religious life of this period is marked by Religious 
several striking features. It is a time of restless ^^* 
thinking and of many changes of feeling, between 
scepticism and faith ; and all these changes are 
reflected in the Literature. It is the time of the 
missionary movement of the modern Christian 
churches. American religious life has the peculiar 
feature of the gathering together in one country 
of the faiths and forms of all other countries. 
This fact, with our perfect freedom of religion and 
entire separation between Church and State, has 
resulted in a great multiplication of religious sects. 
The great advances in scientific discovery and in 
scholarly investigation have affected religious think- 
ing; and their effect is seen constantly in the Litera- 
ture of the time. One cannot fail to notice that the 
poets of this period are profoundly interested in re- 
ligious themes. Their spirit, in this respect, is very 



1 86 Period of the Later Ni7ietee7ith Ceitttiry [1850-80 

different from that of most of the poets of the last 
period. 
Social The great industrial development and rapid in- 

Problems. - i • 1 i 1 1 

crease of population have brought to the attention 
of men social problems which were not thought of 
in earlier times. The factory hand, the denizen of 
the city slum.s, the victims of hard social conditions, 
make their appearance in our Literature. 

I have been aware how impossible it is to make 
such a review of the conditions of life complete ; and 
how, in the necessary limitations of such a work as 
this, one cannot hope even to approach completeness. 
But, spite of their incompleteness, these suggestions 
may help the student to appreciate the sources and 
the relations of the greater, more serious works of 
our poets, novelists, historians, essayists, and orators, 
during these eventful years. 

QUESTIONS 

What dates include the Period of the Later Nineteenth Cen- 
tury? How did the rapid growth of population affect Literature? 
What were some of the influences which helped the wide dif- 
fusion of intelhgence? Why should the Sunday-school be 
reckoned as one of these ? What was the first monthly maga- 
zine? What are some of the more important epochs in the 
development of the modern American magazine? What were 
the "Annuals '"? What were the first colleges to be established? 
What was the special influence upon education of Horace Mann? 
What new forms of institutions for higher education arose during 
this period ? What influence had the scientific movement upon 
the national mind? Analyze the movement called Transcenden- 
talism. In what sense was it reactionary? What was the Brook 
Farm experiment? What were some of the literary tendencies of 
Transcendentalism? Give some account of the antislavery move- 
ment. What are some of the characteristics of the religious life 
of this period? What social problems affect our Literature? 




J\y{/\/a/€^ C^^ 



CHAPTER IX 

Period of the Later Nineteenth Century, 
1850-1880 

VERSE-THE NEW ENGLAND POETS 

The best-known name among the '' Transcenden- 
talists " is that of Ralph Waldo Emerson. With Ralph Waido 
Thoreau, A. B. Alcott, and Hawthorne, he has k""^"'""' 

' ' ' born m Mas- 

made the little town of Concord, Massachusetts, sachusetts, 

1803 ; died, 

a classic spot for all who love American thought 1882. 
and American letters. His life is too uneventful 
to afford materials for a very extended biographical 
notice. Descended from a family of " ministers," 
he began life in that profession. He early found, 
however, that the freer conditions of the lecturer 
and writer were better adapted to him, and, resigning 
his pastoral charge, he made his home in Concord, 
where he lived a beautiful, blameless life, an example 
of the plain living and high thinking which he taught. 
The events of his career are purely scholastic and 
literary. He was not by any means a recluse. He 
was conscientious in discharging his political and 
social dwties at Concord, and the antislavery con- 
test aroused his warm sympathies, so that he even 
at one time delivered some campaign addresses in a 
Massachusetts state election. But his days, on the 

187 



1 88 Period of the Later Nitteteentk Century [1850 

whole, passed quietly and uneventfully. A journey 
to England in 1833, where he met Coleridge, Words- 
worth, and Carlyle ; the writing of a poem which was 
sung at Concord bridge, and the anonymous publica- 
tion of "Nature" in 1836; the delivery of an address 
on "The American Scholar" at Harvard in 1837; 
the organization of the "Symposium," or "Transcen- 
dental Club," and the founding of "The Dial," the 
journal of Transcendentalism, in 1840; the publica- 
tion of a volume of poems in 1878; the publication 
of successive volumes of lectures and essays, — these 
are the events of his career. 

It is very difficult to clearly define Emerson's influ- 
ence. Very few followed him, in the sense of accept- 
ing his theories as their own. There was never any 
apparent effort in any of his work to persuade or 
convince any one. In this respect his prose is as 
poetic as his verse. His influence was by way of 
inspiration. Those who could not clearly understand 
his meaning could yet feel his power, and it was a 
power tending toward intellectual freedom and spir- 
itual aspiration. His method, so far as he can be 
said to have had a method, was the statement of the 
truth he felt, and its illustration from nature and from 
the works of the great writers of the past. He was 
mystical, in the sense that he believed in the pres- 
ent actual communion of the human spirit with the 
divine. He was accused of pantheism ; but he 
could probably be successfully defended against the 
charge of being committed to any "ism." His con- 
ception of the relation of the human soul to the 



1 880] Verse — The New England Poets 1 89 

Divine Being, and of " soul " to all in nature, is very 
difficult, if not impossible, to define in philosophical 
terms. He wrote 

The rounded world is fair to see, 
Nine times folded in mystery, 

and he would probably have felt that any attempt to 
explain the mystery is futile. But he felt the power 
of nature upon the spirit of man, and he so expressed 
the feeling that his readers are compelled to feel it 
too. His message was one of the power of the 
spiritual, — of the worth of the invisible ; and it 
would be difficult to exaggerate the value of such 
a message so delivered, in the midst of the material 
progress and the mad rush for wealth of the past 
generation. 

Emerson's verse has little variety of form. The 
great bulk of it is written in an irregular iambic 
tetrameter. The irregularities are generally, how- 
ever, musical in their effect. The longer poems are 
marred by too great a proportion of philosophic 
thought. They are sometimes difficult to under- 
stand. A poem may have depths of meaning which 
years of study would not sound, and be therefore the 
better poem. But to be a good poem there must be 
an obvious meaning which any intelligent reader can 
appreciate, and from which he can go on to the study 
of the deeper meanings. Here Emerson's poetry 
seems sometimes to fail. In the shorter pieces, 
however, and in many passages of the longer, he 
has reached a condensed, clear, powerful expression 



190 Period of the Later Nineteenth Centuiy [1850 

of poetical ideas, which is unsurpassed. Take, for 
instance, the little poem sung at the celebration of 
the anniversary of the battle of Concord in 1836, 
and now carved on the pedestal of the statue of the 
Minuteman at Concord bridge : 

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 

Here once the embattled farmers stood, 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

The foe long since in silence slept ; 

Alike the conqueror silent sleeps ; 
And Time the ruined bridge has swept 

Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. 

On this green bank, by this soft stream, 

We set to-day a votive stone ; 
That memory may their deed redeem 

When, like our sires, our sons are gone. 

Spirit, that made those heroes dare 
To die, and leave their children free, 

Bid Time and Nature gently spare 
The shaft we raise to them and Thee. 

There could scarcely be a better example than this 
of condensed force. Many a young writer would 
have expanded the topic into a long poem and not 
said half so much. Notice especially the last couplet 
of the first stanza, — 

Here once the embattled farmers stood, 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

The one long word " embattled " puts the fight 
before us, and the terse monosyllables of the last 
line hit the mind like bullets. The story of the 



i88o] Vei'se — The New Eitgland Poets 191 

immeasurable results following from our war of in- 
dependence is all suggested in that compact line, 
and it fastens itself upon the memory with a grip 
that is hard to shake off. As a very different exam- 
ple, but one equally clear and strong in its expression 
of beautiful poetic ideas, take 

THE rhodora; 

ON BEING ASKED, WHENCE IS THE FLOWER? 

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, 

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods, 

Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook, 

To please the desert and the sluggish brook. 

The purple petals, fallen in the pool. 

Made the black water with their beauty gay ; 

Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool. 

And court the flower that cheapens his array. 

Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why 

This charm is wasted on the earth and sky. 

Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing. 

Then Beauty is its own excuse for being : 

Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose! 

I never thought to ask, I never knew : 

But, in my simple ignorance, suppose 

The selfsame Power that brought me there brought you. 

Emerson's independence of form, and at the same 
time his mastery of its essentials, are strikingly 
shown in this. It is near the length of the sonnet ; 
and we may wonder why he did not put it into that 
form. Perhaps the slight condensation that would 
have been required might have improved the poem. 
Perhaps if Emerson had tried it the poem would 
have been spoiled ; and that is the more probable 



192 P€7'iod of the Later NineteentJi Century [1850 

supposition. There is one line very perfect in allit- 
eration and assonance : 

The purple petals, fallen in the pool. 

There is one in which a sudden break in the metre 
adds greatly to the effect : 

Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing. 

There is something exquisitely tender in the intru- 
sion of that little word "dear." It seems to cham- 
pion the flower against rude questioning, and to 
bring the reader and the poet into sympathy, real 
fellow-feeling, with nature ; and the following line : 

Then Beauty is its own excuse for being, 

is one of those strong, terse, musical statements of 
eternal truth, which make the distinction of Emer- 
son's work. Nearer to his prose style, yet clear 
enough to be intelligible to any intelligent, thought- 
ful reader, is another little poem, one of the very 
few examples of Emerson's use of blank verse. 

DAYS ^ 

Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days, 

Muffled and dumb, like barefoot dervishes, 

And marching single in an endless file, 

Bring diadems and fagots in their hands. 

To each they offer gifts after his will. 

Bread, kingdoms, stars, and sky that holds them all. 

I, in my pleached garden, watched the pomp, 

Forgot my morning wishes, hastily 

Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day 

Turned and departed silent. I, too late. 

Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn. 

1 Copyright 1857, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



i88o] Verse — The Nezv England Poets 193 

There is a world of thought suggested by the 
words, " Forgot my morning wishes," of the hopes, 
plans, purposes for better things, which so often fade 
away as life goes on. The contrast between what 
we might get out of life and what we do is given 
in the ''diadems and fagots offered," the glory and 
the consecration of self-sacrifice possible, and the 
few "herbs and apples," the material pleasures so 
often preferred. The pause in the last line but one — 

and the Day 
Turned and departed silent — 

prepares for the conclusion, 

I, too late, 
Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn. 

Perhaps the simplest, and at the same time the 
fullest, expression in brief form of Emerson's mes- 
sage to his generation, is in the often-quoted lines 
from "Voluntaries": 

So nigh is grandeur to our dust, 

So near is God to man, 
When Duty whispers low, Thou must, 

The youth replies, I can. 

These lines express the high possibilities of human 
nature, realized through the fact of the nearness of 
man to God. A special interest is given to them by 
the circumstance related in connection with the dedi- 
cation of the memorial to Colonel Robert G. Shaw, 
that they were occasioned by his acceptance of the 
command of the Fifty-fourth Regiment of Massa- 
chusetts troops. 

Of the longer poems, "The Problem," "Wood- 



194 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

notes," and ''May Day," are among the most ''acces- 
sible," so to speak, for the student. "The World 
Soul" and "Initial, Daemonic, and Celestial Love" 
are among the most difficult. The most difficult will 
well repay study, and abound in passages which are 
suggestive and intelhgible to any one. Thus from 
the close of " The World Soul " : 

Spring still makes spring in the mind, 

When sixty years are told ; 

Love wakes anew this throbbing heart, 

And we are never old. 

Over the winter glaciers, 

I see the summer glow, 

And, through the wild-piled snowdrift, 

The warm rose-buds below. 

The Cam- Leaving the consideration of Emerson's "Essays," 

Group ^^^ ^^ ^^ other writers who with him constitute the 

"Concord" literary group, for the present, we pass 
to the neighboring town of Cambridge, and begin 
the study of the remarkable group of poets con- 
nected with it during this period. 

Harvard College, the first established institution of 
collegiate training in this country, was also a leader 
in the University movement, spoken of in the pre- 
ceding chapter. Thus it became an increasingly 
important centre of thought and culture, and nat- 
urally gathered about it a company of scholars 
and writers, among whom three poets stand out 
preeminent. They are Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell 
Lowell. They were not all born in Cambridge, nor 
did they all live there all their lives ; but they are 




^llCrfyty ^^^,^::?J^^^^^^^^ 



ll 



1880] Verse — T/ie New England Poets 195 

closely associated with the town in a variety of ways, 
and are properly grouped together as "The Cam- 
bridge Poets." ^ 

Oliver Wendell Holmes was the child of the pastor Oliver 
of the old Cambridge Congregational Church. He Ho^imes 

was graduated from Harvard in the class of 1829; born in Mas- 
sachusetts, 
and has introduced many of his readers to this class 1809; died, 

by the many references to it in his poems. He 
studied medicine in Paris, and held the professorship 
of anatomy and physiology, first at Dartmouth, and 
afterwards, for the greater part of his life, at Har- 
vard. For most, if not all, this later period his resi- 
dence was in Boston. He was always known as 
Dr. Holmes ; and not only performed the duties of 
his professorship enthusiastically, but published a 
number of scientific medical essays and volumes. 
Certain lines of thought, due to his medical studies, 
run through all his works. Few men have shown 
such versatile talents as has Holmes. His three 
novels are among the brightest, most cleverly written 
stories by any American author. His " Autocrat " 
series of essays holds a yet higher place ; and prob- 
ably "The Autocrat" itself will hold first rank in 
American works of its kind, if, indeed, there are 
any other of its kind. 

As a poet, in which character we study him now, 
he combines humor and pathos as does no other 
American, and in some of his poems unites, to a 
remarkable degree, strong and suggestive thought 
with delicate beauty of expression. 

His life was quiet and uneventful. His home 



196 Period of the Latei' Nhieteenth Century [1850 

was in Boston, and his professional work in the 
Harvard Medical College, almost all his days. He 
travelled in Europe, in the later years of his life, 
and recorded the experiences of the journey in a 
delightful volume called *' Our Hundred Days in 
Europe." He was conservative in his political and 
social views ; and never joined the antislavery move- 
ment. But he was radical in his religious opinions ; 
and his work is sometimes marred by the undue 
prominence of theological controversy. In an inter- 
esting letter to James Russell Lowell, in the early 
years of his manhood, he defends himself for not 
taking part in the political and social efforts in 
which his friends were so much engaged ; and 
he held quite consistently to the principles of this 
letter throughout his career. According to the 
testimony of his friends, he was a man of the 
most genial, lovable, and likeable personal char- 
acteristics. Mr. T. W. Higginson says that of all 
men he ever knew. Holmes was most like a foun- 
tain ; constantly bubbling over with sweet feeling 
and bright thought. 

His literary career was long, beginning with the 
publication of '' Poetical Illustrations of the Athe- 
naeum Gallery of Paintings," in 1827, and ending 
with the issue of ''Over the Teacups," in 1890. 
Sixty-three years of continuous production is a rare 
record. In the latter years of his life he occupied 
a unique position ; the last of the great group of 
writers to which he belonged, a peculiar reverence 
was felt for him. His genial, accessible disposition 



i88o] Vei'se — The New E^tgland Poets 197 

made the public feel nearer to him than it often does 
to men of his fame and powers. His intellect ap- 
peared to retain its freshness unimpaired ; so that 
the public never ceased to expect something charm- 
ing and helpful from his pen. 

The work referred to above as his first publication 
was prepared in connection with two other writers, 
J. O. Sargent and Park Benjamin. His first volume 
of poems appeared in 1836. Editions, with poems 
written later, were published in 1846, 1849, 1S50, 
1862. The ''Autocrat" series began with the first 
issue of ''The Atlantic Monthly," November, 1857. 
" Elsie Venner," his first novel, and " Songs in Many 
Keys" were issued in 1861. "Humorous Poems," 
1865; "The Guardian Angel," a novel, 1867; 
"Songs of Many Seasons," 1874; "A Mortal An- 
tipathy," a novel, 1885; "Before the Curfew," 1888, 
are among the more important publications that 
followed. 

For special study, in the poetry of Holmes, 
take, as our first selection, one of his earliest 
poems, which yet bids fair to hold its freshness 
of interest with the public as long as anything he 
has written. 

THE LAST LEAF "The Last 

Leaf." 
I saw him once before, 
As he passed by the door, 
And again 



The pavement stones resound, 
le totters o'er t 
With his cane. 



As he totters o'er the ground 



198 Period of the Latei' Niiieteenth Century [1850 

They say that, in his prime, 
Ere the pruning-knife of Time 

Cut him down, 
10 Not a better man was found 

By the Crier on his round 

Through the town. 

But now he walks the streets, 
And he looks at all he meets 
15 Sad and wan, 

And he shakes his feeble head, 
That it seems as if he said, 
'' They are gone." 

The mossy marbles rest 
20 On the lips that he has prest 

In their bloom. 
And the names he loved to hear 
Have been carved for many a year 

On the tomb. 

25 My grandmamma has said, — 

Poor old lady, she is dead 
Long ago,— 

That he had a Roman nose. 

And his cheek was like a rose 
30 In the snow. 

But now his nose is thin. 
And it rests upon his chin 

Like a staff, 
And a crook is in his back, 
35 And a melancholy crack 

In his laugh. 

I know it is a sin 
For me to sit and grin 

At him here ; 
40 But the old three-cornered hat. 

And the breeches, and all that, 

Are so queer ! 



i88o] Verse — The Nezv England Poets 199 

And if I should live to be 
The last leaf upon the tree 
45 In the spring, — 

Let them smile, as I do now, 
At the old forsaken bough 
Where I cling. 



The charm of this poem is in its blending of humor 
and pathos. We see the grotesqueness of the figure, 
and at the same time we feel the sadness of it. The 
charm is elusive ; but we may call attention to some 
of the elements which help to secure it. One point 
easily seen is the art with which the vanished youth 
of the old man is kept before the imagination. 
Through the present picture, which is simply quaint 
and queer, we see always the shadow of the gallant 
youth, strong, erect, handsome, loved, and loving, of 
years gone by. Another notable quality is the deli- 
cacy of the humor. The ludicrous aspects of the 
figure are clearly indicated ; but the manner is never 
unsympathetic. In the fifth and sixth stanzas, the 
humor comes nearest to being broad ; but the pa- 
thetic contrast between the two saves it from any 
trace of coarseness. In the third stanza the inter- 
pretation given to the palsied shake of the old man's 
head is a beautiful example of the art with which all 
through the poem we are kept on the trembling line 
between smiles and tears. At line 19 is a fine exam- 
ple of a well-selected adjective. The epithet "mossy " 
suggests in one word the many years during which 
the old man's life has been a lonely one. It suggests 
also the picture of the old-fashioned '' God's acre," 



200 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

with all its sacred, sad, and peaceful associations. 
And at the same time, it alliterates with the word 
" marbles," and thus helps to make a smooth musi- 
cal line. The closing stanza fixes the pathetic 
impression as the strongest in the poem by remind- 
ing us how to each of us it may be appointed to 
become '' The last leaf upon the tree." 
^ The kind of verse called *' occasional," has been 
described as presenting peculiar difficulties to the 
poet. Holmes showed unusual facility in this sort of 
poetry. He was always in great demand for public 
gatherings of all sorts ; and never failed to produce 
something which expressed the spirit of the occasion 
in musical verse, often with genuine wit, and not 
seldom with true poetic beauty. The Harvard class 
of '29 was peculiarly favored among college classes, 
in having Dr. Holmes for the poet of its frequent 
reunions. With the great multiplication of courses 
of study, and the general use of the elective system, 
the old-fashioned college class is becoming a part of 
ancient history. When forty or fifty men entered 
college together, all took the same studies, recited to- 
gether three times daily for four years, and together 
received the same degree, there was a closeness of 
association which led to the formation of very tender 
ties. This was the normal condition of college life 
for the first seventy-five years of the present century. 
It is *' gone like tenants that quit without warning, 
down the back entry of time." But Holmes has pre- 
served a very precious part of the spirit of that life, 
in his delightful series of lyrics prepared for the re- 



i88o] Vej'se — The Neiv Eiigland Poets 201 

unions of his class. Study, as an example of this 
side of his genius, one written thirty years after his 
graduation, and called 

"the boys" ^ 

Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys ? 
If there has, take him out without making a noise. 
Hang the Almanac's cheat and the Catalogue's spite ! 
Old Time is a liar ! We're twenty to-night ! 

5 We're twenty ! We're twenty ! Who says we are more ? 
He's tipsy, — young jackanapes ! — show him the door ! 
" Gray temples at twenty ? " — Yes! zvhite if we please ; 
Where the snowflakes fall thickest there's nothing: can 
freeze ! 

Was it snowing I spoke of ? Excuse the mistake ! 
10 Look close, — you will see not a sign of a flake ! 

We want some new garlands for those we have shed, — 
And these are white roses in place of the red. 

We've a trick, we young fellows, you may have been told, 
Of talking (in public) as if we were old: — 
15 That boy we call " Doctor," and this we call " Judge " ; 
It's a neat little fiction, — of course it's all fudge. 

That fellow's the '* Speaker," — the one on the right ; 
" Mr. Mayor," my young one, how are you to-night ? 
That's our "Member of Congress," we say when we chaff; 
20 There's the " Reverend " What's his name ? — don't make 
me laugh. 

That boy with the grave mathematical look 

Made believe he had written a wonderful book, 

And the Royal Society thought it was triiel 

So they chose him right in, — a good joke it was too ! 

25 There's a boy, we pretend, with a three-decker brain, 
That could harness a team with a logical chain ; 
When he spoke for our manhood in syllabled fire, 
We called him " The Justice," but now he's " The Squire." 

1 Copyright, i86i, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



202 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

And there's a nice youngster of excellent pith, — 
30 Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith ; 
But he shouted a song for the brave and the free, — 
Just read on his medal. •• My country." " of thee "' ! 

You hear that boy laughing? — You think he's all fiin ; 
But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done ; 
35 The children laugh loud as they troop to his call. 

And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all ! 

Yes, we're boys, — always playing with tongue or with pen ; 
And I sometimes have asked, Shall we ever be men ? 
Shall we always be youthful, and laughing, and gay, 
40 Till the last dear companion drops smiling away ? 

Then here's to our boyhood, its gold and its gray ! 
The stars of its winter, the dews of its I\Iay ! 
And when we have done with our life-lasting toys, 
Dear Father, take care of thy children, The Boys ! 

Thirty years after graduation most men are about 
fifty years of age, and so are beginning to feel as if 
they might some day be old. Holmes makes this 
lurking uneasiness the theme of the lyric, gayly denies 
that they are any^ older than when they graduated, 
and so secures the mingling of fun and grave sugges- 
tion in which he excels. The measure is anapestic, 
the swinging effect of which is well adapted to a 
convivial song. There are several allusions to his 
classmates, some of whom are men not unknown 
to fame. The ''Reverend" of line 20 is probably 
Rev. James Freeman Clarke, a distinguished Boston 
minister, and a very intimate friend of Dr. Holmes. 
"That boy with the grave mathematical look," line 
21, is Professor Benjamin Peirce, of Harvard, for a 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 203 

long time the most distinguished mathematician in 
America. The boy ''with the three-decker brain," 
line 25, is Benjamin R. Curtis, who had been a justice 
of the United States Supreme Court; but in 1857, 
two years before the writing of this poem, had resigned, 
and gone into private practice of the law. The " nice 
youngster of excellent pith," line 29, will probably 
be recognized at once as Rev. S. F. Smith, the 
author of " My Country, 'tis of thee." 

Probably if any of Holmes' poems endures to the 
immortality of the great, it will be " The Chambered 
Nautilus." Eternal, precious truth, expressed in 
faultless form, this little lyric sings itself into the 
heart. 

THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS^ 

This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign. 
Sails the unshadowed main, — 
The venturous bark that flings 
On the sweet summer winds its purpled wings 
S In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings, 

And coral reefs lie bare, 
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming 
hair. 

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl ; 
Wrecked is the ship of pearl! 
10 And every chambered cell, 

Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell. 
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell. 

Before thee lies revealed, — 
Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed ! , 

1 Copyright, 1861, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



204 Period of the Later Nineteeitth Century [1850 

15 Year after year beheld the silent toil 

That spread his lustrous coil ; 
Still, as the spiral grew, 
He left the past year's dwelling for the new, 
Stole with soft step its shining archway through, 
20 Built up its idle door. 

Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no 
more. 

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, 
Child of the w^andering sea, 
Cast from her lap, forlorn ! 
25 From thy dead lips a clearer note is born 

Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn ! 

While on mine ear it rings, 
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that 
sings : — 

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, 
30 As the swift seasons roll ! 

Leave thy low-vaulted past ! 
Let each new temple, nobler than the last, 
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast. 
Till thou at length art free, 
35 Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea ! 

Study this poem as an example of the meditative 
nature lyric. It is written with no apparent refer- 
ence to any idea of its being sung. It is not a song 
in that sense. But it has the lyrical quality of emo- 
tion, in a quiet, peaceful, meditative form, somewhat 
after the manner of Wordsworth. It has also very 
clearly the lyrical quality of expressing the poet's 
personality. We are interested in what the writer 
thinks and feels about the shell, rather than in the 
shell itself. The thought and feeling are those of 



i88o] Verse — The Neiv England Poets 205 

the scholar and modern scientific thinker, rather than 
of the simple observer of nature. The poet is first 
reminded of the classical fables about the nautilus. 
Then his thought passes to the facts of the life of the 
shellfish, and beautifully personifying them, he pro- 
ceeds to draw his lesson, making the observed facts 
of the animal's life the basis of a beautiful and sug- 
gestive analogy. The form of the lyric is interesting, 
especially for its close connection with the progress 
of the thought. Notice the structure of the stanzas. 
The measure is iambic, with lines of varied length. 
First a pentameter line, then two trimeters, two 
pentameters, a trimeter, and an alexandrine at the 
end. Each of the five stanzas is devoted to a clearly 
defined stage of the thought : the fabled fancies 
about the nautilus, the shell as it lies before the 
poet, the life that once occupied the now empty 
shell, the fact that it brings us a message, and the 
message that it brings. A closer study will show 
us that each line carries a complete thought, and 
that the longer and shorter lines are closely adapted 
to the thought they have to express. Especially note- 
worthy is the way in which the thought of each stanza 
culminates to its fullest expression in the long, so- 
norous alexandrine line with which it closes. The 
familiar expedients of alliteration and assonance are 
used in this poem, but not in such a way as to be 
conspicuous. Notice especially lines 4, 11, 19. The 
great beauty of the poem is in the pure, ennobling 
thought it contains, and the impression it leaves upon 
the spirit of the reader. The interest of the form 



i882. 



206 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

consists in the power with which each word and line 

is made to work toward this final impression. 

-"^' The second member of the Cambridge group, 

Henry Hcnry Wadsworth Longfellow, was born in Portland, 

Longfdiow. Maine. His father was a leading lawyer there, and 

born in Port- j^jg choicc library was one of the strons: influences in 

land, Maine, -^ , ^ 

1807; died the poet's early training. The first book which 
bridge^Mas- greatly interested and so influenced him was Irving's 
sachusetts, ''Sketch Book," which he read with keen delight 
when a boy of twelve. His college education was 
at Bowdoin, in Brunswick, Maine, where Nathaniel 
Hawthorne was one of his classmates. On his grad- 
uation in 1825, he was chosen professor of modern 
languages in his Alma Mater, with the suggestion 
that he spend some years abroad in special prepara- 
tion for the duties of the chair. From May, 1826, 
until August, 1829, he was engaged in study and 
travel in Europe, and for the following five years he 
discharged the duties of the professorship at Bow- 
doin. In December, 1834, he was invited to a similar 
position at Harvard, and in preparation for this new 
work he went again to Europe. During this visit 
he suffered his first great sorrow — a sorrow reflected 
in the tender poem ''The Footsteps of Angels" — 
in the death of his wife. In December, 1836, began 
his residence in Cambridge, which was his home for 
the remainder of his life. For eighteen years he was 
actively engaged in the duties of his professorship ; 
but in 1854 he resigned this position, and devoted his 
whole time and strength to literary pursuits. From 
the year 1837 his home was in the historical " Craigie 




jTe^^W. 




-•^V^) 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 207 

House," which had been the headquarters of General 
Washington during the siege of Boston, and which 
has thus become doubly memorable as the residence 
for forty-five years of the well-beloved poet. In July, 
1 86 1, a terrible domestic sorrow came to him in the 
death by fire of his second wife, with whom he had 
lived an ideally happy life since 1843. It was by 
means of the close and unremitting labor of his 
translation of Dante's '' Divina Commedia " that he 
brought himself out of the overwhelming shadow of 
this calamity, a fact which adds a peculiar interest 
to that work, and to the series of sonnets which 
were written in connection with it. He died on 
the 24th of March, 1882, his mental faculties hav- 
ing been perfectly preserved to the end. " The Bells 
of San Bias," one of the most perfect of his lyrics, 
was completed on the 15th of the same month; and 
closes with words which seem beautifully appropriate 
as the last message of such a man and such a poet. 

Like Holmes, Longfellow made his first appear- 
ance in print in connection with other writers. First 
on the list of his publications we find "Miscellaneous 
Poems from the United States Literary Gazette," 
1826. During his residence at Bowdoin, he pub- 
lished " Elements of French Grammar " ; '' Coplas 
de Manrique," a translation from the Spanish ; and 
"Outre-Mer," a collection of sketches, the glean- 
ings of his years in Europe. After his return from 
his second journey abroad, he published, in the 
"Knickerbocker Magazine," his "Psalm of Life," "Psaimof 
which made him instantly one of the most popular ^ ^' ^ ^^' 



2o8 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



poets of the world's history. Very few critics would 
give this poem a very high place, artistically. It 
has been criticised as commonplace in thought and 
confused in its figures of speech. Nevertheless the 
people read it ; and boys and girls learned it by 
heart ; and women were moved by it to bear trouble 
more patiently, to work harder, and keep a brighter 
outlook toward the future. For it too had " that 
music to whose tone the common pulse of man keeps 
time." Still Longfellow was not sure whether his 
special power would be found in verse or in prose ; 
and the next volumic he gave to the public was 
"Hyperion." "Hyperion," a book, half romance and half "glori- 
fied guide-book" of the Rhine and Switzerland. This 
was in 1839; and the same year appeared "Voices of 
the Night," his first volume of poems. This volume 
contained, besides the "Psalm of Life," the "Hymn 
to the Night," "The Reaper and the Flowers," "The 
Footsteps of Angels," and "The Beleaguered City"; 
lyrics which riveted his hold upon the hearts of his 
readers, and which display some of his most striking 
characteristics : a liquid fluency of versification, an 
art so perfect that it seems artless, a flavor of book- 
ishness or evident familiarity with the writings of 
many lands and of all times, a transparent clearness 
of expression, a deep sense of the brooding presence 
of nature in our human lives, a serene faith in the 
best things, and perhaps too strong a tendency to 
press the lesson of his song upon the mind and 
heart of his reader. " Ballads and Other Poems " 
appeared in 1841, with "The Wreck of the Hespe- 



" Voices of 
the Night," 
1839. 



"Ballads 
and Other 
Poems," 
1841. 



i88o] Verse — The Nezv England Poets 209 

rus " and ''The Skeleton in Armor," which spirited 
ballads displayed quite another phase of his genius, 
and one to find frequent expression later ; and con- 
taining also in " The Children of the Lord's Supper," 
his first effort at the use of the unrimed hexameter 
verse. A thin volume of ''Poems on Slavery," in "Poems on 
1842, indicated where his sympathies lay on that 18^2. 
subject, but did not specially add to his reputation ; 
and in 1843 "The Spanish Student" appeared, 
his first essay at dramatic verse. " The Belfry of 
Bruges" and other poems, 1845, contained a num- 
ber of lyrics, such as " The Old Clock on the Stairs " 
and "The Arrow and the Song," which have been 
great favorites. Then, in 1847, appeared the work 
which carried the name and fame of Longfellow into 
thousands of homes all over the English-speaking 
world. One of the pleasantest incidents in the history 
of literary friendships is told in connection with this 
poem, "Evangeline." Hawthorne had thought of the "Evangel- 
story of the expulsion of the Acadians, as suitable 
for a romance ; but as he turned it over in his mind 
felt convinced that it was really better fitted to poetic 
treatment. So he suggested it to Longfellow; and 
when the poem appeared, no one welcomed it more 
heartily or rejoiced more in the fame it brought its 
author than did Hawthorne. 

" Kavanagh," a story in poetical prose, was pub- 
lished in 1849; and in 1850 another volume of mis- 
cellaneous poems, called "The Seaside and the 
Fireside." It contained "The Building of the 
Ship " and " Resignation." 
p 



210 Period of the Later Ni7ietee7ith CentiLry [1850 

"TheGoiden "The Golden Legend," published in 1851, was his 
1821. ' second effort in dramatic verse, and showed a dis- 

tinct advance upon the first. With "The New Eng- 
land Tragedies," 1868, and "The Divine Tragedy," 
1 87 1, this was republished in 1872, forming the 
"Christus," trilogy, or threefold drama, "Christus." The thought 
^ ^^' of the trilogy seems to have been to portray the 

popular misconception or rejection of the Christ in 
three epochs of history. " The Divine Tragedy " 
is a versified dramatic rendering of the story of the 
Gospels, often reproducing the words of the evan- 
gelists with scarcely any change. " The Golden 
Legend" represents the Christianity of mediaeval 
times, the superstition and the faith of the period 
being contrasted in the two leading characters. 
" The New England Tragedies " represents the same 
general thought, the scene being laid in the period 
of Puritanism, and especially the time of the witch- 
craft delusion. 
"Hiawatha," In 1855 appeared "Hiawatha," a narrative poem, 
based on legends of the American Indians. It was 
instantly and widely popular. At the same time 
it was bitterly criticised, ridiculed, and frequently 
parodied. It is in many respects the most entirely 
American and original of Longfellow's works ; and 
yet in connection with it he has been most frequently 
accused of plagiarism. There can be no doubt that 
for his materials he was largely indebted to School- 
craft, and for the general form in which he cast them 
to his studies in Finnish poetry ; but the poem is full 
of the spirit and the style of Longfellow. While the 



i88o] Verse — The Nezv England Poets 211 

stealing of literary work, the publishing of another's 
composition as our own, is one of the meanest of 
crimes, the use of materials, the reproduction of 
scenes and incidents from older writers, has been 
the constant practice of the best authors, and always 
will be. Chaucer's " Tales " and Shakespeare's 
dramas are all developed from older tales or plays, 
and the fact does not in the least detract from their 
originality. No one need hesitate to tell the tale 
of Hiawatha again, if he does not pretend that he 
invented it ; and if he tells it in his own way, putting 
something of himself into it, it is his, as truly as it 
is Longfellow's. " Hiawatha " is written in a pecul- 
iar metre, an unrimed trochaic tetrameter. It is easy 
to imitate, but not easy to imitate well. Almost any 
one can string lines together which shall have the 
four accents ; but to do it and avoid monotonous 
sing-song, to do it and keep a continuous musical 
movement in accordance with the thought, is a very 
different matter. That is what Longfellow did, and 
the parodies illustrate the beauty of the original, as 
counterfeit coin proves the value of the genuine. 
"The Courtship of Miles Standish," 1858, uses again "TheCourt- 
the hexameter employed in "Evangeline," and has, standish," 
what is very unusual in Longfellow, a delicate vein ^^^s. 
of humor mingling with the poetic beauty of its 
pictures. 

Five years later "The Tales of a Wayside Inn" "Tales of a 
appeared. This is the last experiment in style, so inn;^^i863. 
to speak, and perhaps the most successful of all. It 
was not a new idea, but one older than Chaucer, 



212 Period of the Later Niiieteenth Ce^ittcry [1850 

the grouping of a number of narrative poems by 
putting them in the mouths of persons who by some 
device are brought together and made to tell the 
stories to one another, one story thus forming a 
"frame," in which the others are set. The "Can- 
terbury Tales " of Chaucer occurs to us at once 
as the most famous example of the method. Long- 
fellow's use of it is as different from that of Chaucer 
as Chaucer's is from that of Boccaccio, who used 
a similar device in the " Decameron." A company 
of six friends are at a wayside inn in Sudbury, 
Massachusetts, and each of the six, with the landlord 
of the inn, tells a tale. The characters of The Land- 
lord, The Student, The Spanish Jew, The Sicilian, 
The Musician, The Theologian, and The Poet are 
individualized, and each tells a tale suited to his 
character. A second and third series of the "Tales" 
appeared in "Three Books of Song," 1871, and 
"Aftermath," 1872. "Flower de Luce," 1866, was 
a thin volume of lyrics. The translation of Dante's 
"Divina Commedia" was issued in 1867, the "Inferno" 
having been separately published tw^o years before. 
The volume called "The Masque of Pandora," 1875, 
contained also "The Hanging of the Crane," a much 
more popular poem, and "Morituri Salutamus," one of 
Longfellow's very few " occasional " poems. It was 
written for the fiftieth anniversary of his graduation 
from Bowdoin. " Keramos," 1878, "Ultima Thule," 
1880, "In the Harbor," 1882, and "Michael Angelo," 
1883, complete the list, the last two being published 
after his death. 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 213 

Longfellow's work illustrates the three main divi- 
sions of verse : the Epic — or Narrative, the Dra- 
matic, and the Lyric. We will study something of 
each style ; and first a passage from the second Part 
of " Evangeline." 

Thus ere another noon they emerged from the shades ■, 
and before them 

Lay, in the golden sun, the lakes of the Atchafalaya. 

Water-hUes in myriads rocked on the sHght undulations 

Made by the passing oars, and, resplendent in beauty, the lotus 
5 Lifted her golden crown above the heads of the boatmen. 

Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magnolia blos- 
soms, 

And with the heat of noon ; and numberless sylvan islands, 

Fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming hedges of 
roses. 

Near to whose shores they glided along, invited to slumber. 
10 Soon by the fairest of these their weary oars were suspended. 

Under the boughs of Wachita willows, that grew by the margin, 

Safely their boat was moored ; and scattered about on the 
greensward, 

Tired with their midnight toil, the weary travellers slumbered. 

Over them vast and high extended the cope of a cedar. 
IS Swinging from its great arms, the trumpet-flower and the 
grape-vine 

Hung their ladder of ropes aloft like the ladder of Jacob, 

On whose pendulous stairs the angels ascending, descending, 

Were the swift humming-birds, that flitted from blossom to 
blossom. 

Such was the vision Evangeline saw as she slumbered be- 
neath it. 
20 Filled was her heart with love, and the dawn of an opening 
heaven 

Lighted her soul in sleep with the glory of regions celestial. 

Nearer and ever nearer, among the numberless islands, 
Darted a hght, swift boat, that sped away o'er the water, 



214 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Urged on its course by the sinewy arms of hunters and 

trappers . 
25 Northward its prow was turned, to tlie land of the bison and 

beaver. 
At the hehii sat a youth, with countenance thoughtful and 

careworn. 
Dark and neglected locks overshadowed his brow, and a 

sadness 
Somewhat beyond his years on his face was legibly written. 
Gabriel was it, who, weary with waiting, unhappy and restless, 
30 Sought in the Western wilds oblivion of self and of sorrow. 
Swiftly they glided along, close under the lee of the island, 
But by the opposite bank, and behind a screen of palmettos, 
So that they saw not the boat, where it lay concealed in the 

willows. 
All undisturbed by the dash of their oars, and unseen, were 

the sleepers, 
35 Angel of God was there none to awaken the slumbering 

maiden. 
Swiftly they glided away, like the shade of a cloud on the 

prairie-. 
After the sound of their oars on the tholes had died in the 

distance, 
As from a magic trance the sleepers awoke, and the maiden 
Said with a sigh to the friendly priest, " O Father Felician ! 
40 Something says in my heart that near me Gabriel wanders. 
Is it a foolish dream, an idle and vague superstition ? 
Or has an angel passed, and revealed the truth to my spirit ? " 
Then, with a blush, she added, " Alas for my credulous 

fancy ! 
Unto ears like thine such words as these have no meaning." 
45 But made answer the reverend man, and he smiled as he 

answered, — 
" Daughter, thy words are not idle ; nor are they to me with- 
out meaning. 
Feeling is deep and still ; and the word that floats on the 

surface 
Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden. 
Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illu- 
sions. 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 215 

5° Gabriel truly is near thee ; for not far away to the southward, 
On the banks of the Teche, are the towns of St. Maur and 

St. Martin- 
There the long-wandering bride shall be given again to her 

bridegroom, 
There the long-absent pastor regain his flock and his sheep- 
fold. 
Beautiful is the land, with its prairies and forests of fruit trees ; 
55 Under the feet a garden of flowers, and the bluest of heavens 
Bending above, and resting its dome on the walls of the forest. 
They who dwell there have named it '■ the Eden of Louisiana.' " 



This extract is from the central incident of the 
poem, the unconscious meeting and passing of Ga- 
briel and Evangeline, which has been spoken of as 
among the most pathetic passages in Literature. 
Notice the contrast between the dreamy, slow, slum- 
berous effect of the lines describing the arrival of 
Evangeline's company at the island where they stop 
to rest, and the swift passing of Gabriel's boat. 
Lines 13 and 23 illustrate this most perfectly. 
One is compelled to read the first deliberately, paus- 
ing after almost every word, while the other slips 
over the tongue as lightly as the motion of the 
canoe. Notice the music of line 3 when it is read 
aloud. The liquid /'s and r's float and rock like 
the flowers on the still waters of the bayou. No- 
tice the effect of the repeated sounds in lines 5 
and 6. Alliteration is most effectively used in lines 
13 and 16. Notice also how beautifully the scene 
and Evangeline's soul are blended in the passage, 
lines 14-21. In this poem Longfellow has come 
as near to success in the use of the hexameter 



2i6 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

line as in any of his work. If one would test the 
question whether he has really succeeded, a simple 
method would be this : tr}' how often the lines 
could be divided into tvvo trimeters without injury 
to the thought or to the music. A line should have 
a certain unity of impression both in thought and 
rhythm. Not that the thought should always end 
with the line. If every line were a complete sen- 
tence, the monotonous effect would be intolerable ; 
and even such a unity as that of Pope, where each 
couplet is a complete clause, becomes tiresome. It 
is far better to have the thought carried over occa- 
sionally from one line to the next. But remember- 
ing this limitation, the test of unity of line may be 
safely applied. On applying this test to these lines, 
you will soon find that they cannot often be di\dded 
without distinct loss. Sometimes it seems as if thev 
could ; but experiment shows that the trimeter ar- 
rangement gives a sing-song effect which the hexam- 
eter avoids. Take, for example, line 6 : 

Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magnolia blossoms. 

If this were divided into two trimeter lines, the 
division would fall at the end of the word '' odorous " ; 
thus : 

Faint was the air with the odorous 

Breath of magnolia blossoms."' 

With this arrangement one instinctively makes a 
slight pause at the end of the first line, instead of 
passing at once from the adjective to the noun ; 
and the effect is bad, both for sound and for sense. 



i88oJ Verse — The New England Poets 21) 

If the student is acquainted with the principles of 
Latin and Greek scansion, it would be interesting 
to read some lines from the *'^neid " or the ** Iliad," 
and then from " Evangeline," and try by the test 
of the ear whether Longfellow has caught the secret 
of the classic hexameter cadences. 

And as an example of Dramatic verse, take an 
extract from *'The Golden Legend." It will be in- 
teresting also as an example of the irregular unrimed 
verse which Longfellow uses more than any other 
poet, and which has a peculiar charm of its own. 
The extract is from the first interview between Elsie 
and Prince Henry : 

{Elsie C07nes in with flowers.') 

Elsie. Here are flowers for you, 
But they are not all for you. 
Some of them are for the Virgin 
And for Saint Cecilia. 

Prince Henry. As thou standest there, 
Thou seemest to me like the angel 
That brought the immortal roses 
To Saint Cecilia's bridal chamber. 

Elsie. But these will fade. 

Prince Henry. Themselves will fade, 
But not their memory, 
And memory has the power 
To re-create them from the dust. 
They remind me, too. 
Of martyred Dorothea, 
Who from celestial gardens sent 
Flowers as her witnesses 
To him who scoffed and doubted. 

Elsie. Do you know the story 
Of Christ and the Sultan's daughter? 
That is the prettiest legend of them all. 



2i8 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Prince Henry. Then tell it to me. 
But first come hither. 
Lay the flowers down beside me, 
And put both thy hands in mine. 
Now tell me the story. 

Elsie. Early in the morning 
The Sultan's daughter 
Walked in her father's garden, 
Gathering the bright flowers, 
All full of dew. 

Prince Henry. Just as thou hast been doing 
This morning, dearest Elsie. 

Elsie. And as she gathered them, 
She wondered more and more 
Who was the Master of the Flowers, 
And made them grow 
Out of the cold, dark earth. 
" In my heart," she said, 
" I love him ; and for him 
Would leave my father's palace. 
To labor in his garden." 

Pri7tce Henry . Dear, innocent child ! 
How sweetly thou recallest 
The long-forgotten legend, 
That in my early childhood 
My mother told me! 
Upon my brain 
It reappears once more, 
As a birthmark on the forehead 
When a hand suddenly 
Is laid upon it, and removed ! 

Elsie. And at midnight, 
As she lay upon her bed, 
She heard a voice 
Call to her from the garden. 
And, looking forth from her window. 
She saw a beautiful youth 
Standing among the flowers. 
It was the Lord Jesus ; 
And she went down to him, 



i88o] Verse — The New Ejtgland Poets 219 

And opened the door for him ; 

And he said to her, " O maiden ! 

Thou hast thought of me with love, 

And for thy sake 

Out of my Father's kingdom 

Have I come hither : 

I am the Master of the Flowers. 

My garden is in Paradise, 

And if thou wilt go with me, 

Thy bridal garland 

Shall be of bright red flowers." 

And then he took from his finger 

A golden ring. 

And asked the Sultan's daughter 

If she would be his bride. 

And when she answered him with love, 

His wounds began to bleed, 

And she said to him, 

" O Love ! how red thy heart is, 

And thy hands are full of roses." 

" For thy sake," answered he, 

" For thy sake is my heart so red, 

For thee I bring these roses ; 

I gathered them at the cross 

Whereon I died for thee ! 

Come, for my Father calls. 

Thou art my elected bride ! " 

And the Sultan's daughter 

Followed him to his Father's garden. 

Prince Henry. Wouldst thou have done so, Elsie? 

Elsie. Yes, very gladly. 

Prince Hejiry. Then the Celestial Bridegroom 
Will come for thee also. 
Upon thy forehead he will place, 
Not his crown of thorns, 
But a crown of roses. 
In thy bridal chamber. 
Like Saint Cecilia, 
Thou shalt hear sweet music. 
And breathe the fragrance 



220 Period of tJie Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Of flowers immortal I 

Go now and place these flowers 

Before her picture. 

The lines are of irregular lengths, and there is no 
rime ; but the music is perfect. There is not a limp- 
ing line. The sense and the sound are beautifully 
blended. Read it with thoughts entirely fixed upon 
what is said, and you will irresistibly fall into the 
rhythm of the verse. It may seem very simple to 
write thus, with no rime, and constantly varying the 
length of the lines ; but to do this and yet have the 
rhythmic movement perfect, and each line itself a 
perfect one is a triumph of art. The sweet sim- 
plicity and clear faith of Elsie appear clearly in this 
passage ; and so does the amiable weakness of the 
Prince, easily turned into cruel selfishness, and yet 
capable of receiving the influence of Elsie's strength, 
and so of being redeemed. In the clearness and 
force with which these characteristics appear in the 
words and actions of the persons, the dramatic qual- 
ity of the poem is shown. In other parts of this 
poem, rime is used freely and with the ease and 
melody characteristic of all Longfellow's work. 
There is a good deal of variety of scene and 
action. Elsie offers herself as the victim by whose 
voluntary death the health of the Prince is to be 
restored. The Prince accepts the offering, and they 
journey together through Germany, Switzerland, and 
Italy, to Salerno, where the sacrifice is to be accom- 
plished. An interesting interlude is a very pretty 
imitation of an ancient miracle play. Lucifer and 



i88o] Verse — The Neiv England Poets 221 

good and bad angels are introduced. At the last 
the Prince refuses to accept the sacrifice, and so, as 
becomes a legend rather than a tragedy, the end is 
happy. It is not an acting play, nor is it a powerful 
drama of passion ; but it is a beautiful legend in 
dramatic form. 

In studying Longfellow's lyric work, take one of 
the earliest poems, and notice some of the qualities 
which gave him his peculiar popularity. 

HYMN TO THE NIGHT 

'AcTTracrtTj, TpiXKiaros 

I heard the trailing garments of the Night 

Sweep through her marble halls ! 
I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light 

From the celestial walls ! 

S I felt her presence, by its spell of might, 

Stoop o'er me from above ; 
The calm, majestic presence of the Night, 
As of the one I love. 

I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight, 
lo The manifold, soft chimes, 

That fill the haunted cliambers of the Night, 
Like some old poet's rhymes. 

From the cool cisterns of the midnight air 
My spirit drank repose ; 
IS The fountain of perpetual peace flows there, 

From those deep cisterns flows. 

O holy Night ! from thee I learn to bear 

What man has borne before ! 
Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care, 
20 And they complain no more. 



222 Period of the Later NineteeiitJi Century [1850 

Peace ! Peace I Orestes-like I breathe this prayer ! 

Descend with broad-winged flight. 
The welcome, the thrice-prayed for. the most fair, 

The best-beloved Night ! 

In form this lyric is very simple, and yet, on ex- 
amination, shows a delicately elaborate art. The 
quatrains are formed of alternating pentameter and 
trimeter lines, with iambic feet. The measure is 
very melodious, the variations from the iambic 
scheme being just enough to avoid monotony : as 
is illustrated in lines 2 and 8. This easy^ flowing 
melody of versification is the first notable " Long- 
fellow " quality. In each of the first three stanzas 
the word "Night" is used, and determines the rime- 
scheme. In the second part of the lyric, the word 
**air," in the fourth stanza, gives the dominant tone 
of the riming. The figure of speech which pervades 
the whole poem is personification ; and in the de- 
velopment of this figure, dignity, simplicity^ and 
poetic appropriateness are the striking qualities, 
more than originality or force. Notice hoAV this 
figure is developed at lines 2, 3, 6, 19. A charac- 
teristic quality^ of Longfellow's work, which to some 
seems a special charm, and to others a weakness, 
is that which has been spoken of as the " flavor of 
bookishness." It is the strong tendency to make 
allusions and references to characters, incidents, and 
saydngs from the wide range of his reading. It 
is illustrated in lines 12 and 21 of this selection. 
Finally^, notice the expression of the brooding pres- 
ence of the Night, and the peace it brings to the 



i88o] Ve7'se — The N'eiv England Poets 223 

human spirit. The test of this poem, as of all lyric 
poetry, is in the power with which the feeling of 
the poet is carried to the mind of the reader. 

Just a pleasant walk up Brattle Street, Cambridge, James 

/^ • • TT )» 1 • T^i Russell 

from the '' Craigie House, brmgs one to Elm- Lowell, 
wood," for many years the home of another of the 5,°^\^" , 

' ■' •' Cambridge, 

Cambridge group, James Russell Lowell. His father, Massachu- 
Rev. Charles Lowell, was almost all his life pastor of died, 1891.' 
one of the Boston churches, but made his home in 
Cambridge. When the poet graduated from Har- 
vard, in 1838, he illustrated the force of heredity, as 
his father and grandfather had taken the same degree 
from the same Alma Mater. His class poem, recited 
and published in that year, is reckoned as first in the 
order of his works ; though it is not included in the 
authorized edition of his poems. The same fate has 
overtaken the volume called '' A Year's Life," issued 
in 1 84 1, which has never been republished, and the 
most of whose contents were suppressed by the 
critical judgment of the author. The class poem 
had contained ridicule of the abolitionists, who 
were then beginning to attract public attention. 
But Lowell's maturer thought brought him into 
close sympathy with those earnest men, and his 
marriage with Maria White, in 1844, strengthened 
this tendency by combining these political and social 
aims with the deepest affections and the highest 
ideals of his life. He found it somewhat difficult to 
settle upon a profession, studying law, and beginning 
to engage in its practice ; but feeling always that his 
heart was divided between political and social reform 



224 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

on the one hand, and Literature on the other. He 
was a contributor to the ''Liberty Bell," the "Anti- 
slavery Standard," and the "Boston Courier." In 
1843 he was appointed editor of a magazine called 
''The Pioneer." Such an editor, and such contribu- 
tors as Poe, Hawthorne, Mrs. Browning, and Whittier, 
should have made any magazine successful; but it 
lived through only three numbers. In 1851 he 
travelled in Europe; and, in 1853, experienced the 
great sorrow of the death of his wife. In 1855 he 
was appointed to succeed Longfellow as professor 
of modern languages and "belles-lettres" at Har- 
vard; and spent two years abroad in special study 
with reference to the duties of that position. The 
"Atlantic Monthly" was founded in 1857 with 
Lowell as its chief editor. From 1863 to 1872 he 
was associated with Charles Eliot Norton in the 
management of the "North American Review." 
Meanwhile his writings had brought him before the 
public as an independent supporter of the principal 
measures of the Republican party; and in 1876 he 
was one of their presidential electors. In 1877 he 
was appointed by President Hayes to the Spanish 
Mission, and in 1880 was transferred to England. 
Here he remained till 1885, gaining great reputation 
as an orator on social and ceremonial occasions, and 
doing much in this way to bring the American 
and British peoples together. Lowell was keenly 
sensible of the evils which at different periods have 
been prominent in American social and political life. 
He was severe and unsparing in his denunciation of 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 225 

some forms of corruption ; and thus, like Cooper, 
suffered a loss of popularity by his faithfulness in 
this respect. During the later years of his life he 
made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Burnett, of 
Southboro, Massachusetts, but spent a great deal 
of his time in England. He died in Cambridge, 
August 12, 1891. 

Lowell's poetical works fall into two clearly marked 
groups, separated by an interval of fourteen years. 
The first group begins with the class poem of 1838, 
and ends with the "Fable for Critics," in 1848; the 
second group begins with the second series of "The 
Biglow Papers," the first number of which ap- 
peared in the "Atlantic Monthly," January, 1862 
(the whole second series was published in 1866), and 
closes with "Heartsease and Rue," 1888, and a little 
volume of last poems issued since his death. 

Lowell's ideal of what a poet should be he himself 
ridicules in the " Fable for Critics " : 

There is Lowell, who's striving Parnassus to climb 

With a whole bale of isms tied together with rhyme, 

He might get on alone, spite of brambles and boulders, 

But he can't with that bundle he has on his shoulders, 

The top of the hill he will ne'er come nigh reaching 

Till he learns the distinction 'twixt singing and preaching ; 

His lyre has some chords that would ring pretty well, 

But he'd rather by half make a drum of the shell, 

And rattle away till he's old as Methusalem, 

At the head of a march to the last New Jerusalem. 

His serious statement of the ideal, which in these 
lines he whimsically ridicules, will be found in the 
Q 



226 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

"Ode," which is among the earliest poems in the 
collected edition. 

Among the toil-worn poor my soul is seeking 
For one to bring the Maker's name to light, 
To be the voice of that almighty speaking 
Which every age demands to do it right 

^ "i^ "ie. -ie. ifi ifi -ic 

Who feels that God and Heaven's great deeps are nearer 
Him to whose heart his fellow-man is nigh. 
Who doth not hold his soul's own freedom dearer 
Than that of all his brethren, low or high : 

****** i^ 

This, this is he for whom the world is waiting 
To sing the beatings of its mighty heart. 
Too long hath it been patient with the grating 
Of scrannel-pipes, and heard it misnamed Art. 

******* 

Awake, then, thou ! we pine for thy great presence 
To make us feel the soul once more sublime, 
We are of far too infinite an essence 
To rest contented with the hes of Time. 
Speak out ! and io \ a hush of deepest wonder 
ShaU sink o'er all this many-voiced scene, 
As when a sudden burst of rattling thunder 
Shatters the blueness of a sky serene. 

Lowell's earlier volumes contain as their most im- 
portant narrative poem. " A Legend of Brittany," 
which scarcely seems to be an effort to reach this 
ideal. It is a beautiful poem, written in pentameter 
lines which rime alternately, and arranged in eight- 
line stanzas. The story is a sad one of crime and 
sin, but contains the immortal lesson of the in\'in- 
cible power of purit}^ and truth. Two powerful 
historical poems belong to this time : *^* A Glance 
Behind the Curtain," which seizes upon the moment 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 227 

when Cromwell almost decided to leave England and 
join the Puritans in America, and makes from it a 
powerful plea for true patriotism ; and " Columbus," 
which treats in a similar way the moment when the 
explorer was given " one day more " to accomplish 
his aim. 

But the chief poem of this earlier period, and one 
of the most important of Lowell's works, is ''The "Sir 
Vision of Sir Launfal." In this poem Lowell used 184^^' 
the theme of the search for the Holy Grail, which 
Tennyson has made so familiar to lovers of poetry, 
in ''The Idylls of the King." The American poet 
developed the story in his own way. Indeed, the 
story, so far as I know, is entirely his own ; and 
there is no apparent effort to give a mediaeval atmos- 
phere. It is frankly ethical ; the inspiring lessons 
reach the soul, in every part of the poem ; but it is 
not didactic, in an inartistic sense ; that is, the lesson 
teaches itself, and is not forced. Some of the best 
passages are descriptive of nature. With the older 
English poets, May is the beautiful month of the 
year, and there has been a conventional fashion of 
giving May, in America, the same qualities which 
the poets ascribe to it in England. But Lowell is 
not conventional. He knows that in New England 
June is the most beautiful month of the year ; and 
the New England June has been described once for 
all in the opening part of " Sir Launfal." 



And what is so rare as a day in June ? 
Then, if ever, come perfect days ; 



228 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 
And over it softly her warm ear lays : 
5 Whether we look, or whether w'e listen, 

We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; 
Every clod feels a stir of might, 

An instinct within it that reaches and towers, 
And. groping blindly above it for light, 
10 Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers ; 

The flush of life may well be seen 

Thrilling back over hills and valleys ; 
The cowslip startles in meadows green, 

The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, 
15 And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean 

To be some happy creature's palace ; 
The little bird sits at his door in the sun, 
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves. 
And lets his illumined being overrun 
20 With the deluge of summer it receives. ,,, 

Notice how real it all is. The buttercup, the cow- 
slip, the dandelion, the characteristic flowers of the 
New England fields, are the flowers of which he 
writes. How the warm glow of the June day per- 
vades every line ! There are lines here that well illus- 
trate Lowell's gift of strong expression (see lines 8-10, 
14, 19, 20). A passage of almost equal beauty is the 
prelude to Part Second of the poem, which describes 
that marvel of our American winter — a bright day 
following a frost storm when the winter wind 

Had caught the nodding bulrush tops 
And hung them thickly with diamond drops, 
That crystalled the beams of moon and sun. 
And made a star of every one. 

Lowell, indeed, comes near to the ideal of the 
"Ode," when the beggar with whom Sir Launfal 



i88o] Verse — The Nciv England Poets 229 

divides his crust, in " the voice that was calmer than 
silence," said : 

The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, 

In whatso we share with another's need ; 

Not what we give, but what we share, — 

For the gift without the giver, is bare ; 

Who gives himself with his alms feeds three, — 

Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me. 

According to the usual division of verse, it would "AFabieior 
be difficult to classify the ''Fable for Critics." In J848. ' 
it Lowell's strong tendency toward criticism finds 
expression in rime. We have already quoted it re- 
peatedly. In connection with every name thus far 
mentioned, and with some who will be mentioned, it 
would be well for the student to see if they are dis- 
cussed in the "Fable," and if so, to read what Lowell 
has there to say. 

Lowell's most entirely original work, and the one 
that made the strongest impression on his contem- 
poraries, was "The Biglow Papers." It is a series of "TheBigiow 
dialect poems, supposed to be composed by a rustic ^l^^' 
genius of New England, introduced and accompanied i860, 
by a series of letters from his pastor, the Rev. 
Homer Wilbur. It was, first of all, a powerful 
political pamphlet. It attacked the men and the 
measures of the dominant party during the time of 
the Mexican War, and indirectly defended the abo- 
litionists and other opponents of the war and of the 
annexation of Texas. The second series did the 
same service in behalf of the dominant party, and 
against the obstructionists and " peace " party, during 



230 Period of the Later Nineteenth Cejttitry [1850 

the Civil War. While the political interest may be 
transitory, "The Biglow Papers" will always attract 
the student of Literature as a most effective character 
study; being Lowell's nearest approach to a dramatic 
poem. The supposed author and Parson Wilbur are 
distinguished with beautiful art, and the weaknesses 
of the opposite party are revealed with keen sarcasm. 
Another striking characteristic is the dialect. It 
may be that this Avill prevent its enduring popularity. 
Dialects are transitory, and perhaps the people of 
the future will not take the trouble to interpret the 
dialect of these poems. But scholars and literary 
men will always be especially interested in this feat- 
ure. We may be sure that the poems have preserved 
the dialect, whatever effect the dialect may have upon 
the poems. Moreover, scattered through them there 
are examples of keen wit, stinging satire, and lovely 
description of nature. "What Mr. Robinson thinks," 
number three of the first series ; parts of the 
"Third Letter from B. Sawin, Esq.," and "Jonathan 
to John," in the second series, are examples of the 
wit and satire. The following extract from " Sunthin' 
in the Pastoral Line," second series, is one of the 
most perfect expressions of the real New England 
atmosphere in Literature. 

Fi'om sunthin' in the pastoral line ^ 

BIGLOW PAPERS, SECOND SERIES. NUMBER SIX 

I. country-born an" bred, know where to find 
Some blooms thet make the season suit the mind. 

1 Copyright, 1866, Houghton, MifHin cS: Co. Boston. 



i88o] Verse — The Nezv England Poets 231 

An' seem to metch the doubtin' blue-bird's notes, 
Half-vent'rin"' liverworts in furry coats, 
5 Bloodroots, whose rolled-up leaves ef you oncurl, 
Each on 'em's cradle to a baby-pearl, — 
But these are jes' Spring's pickets ; sure ez sin, 
The rebble frosts'll try to drive 'em in ; 
For half our May's so awfully like May'n't, 

10 'Twould rile a Shaker or an evrige saint ; 

Though I own up I like our back'ard springs 
Thet kind o' haggle with their greens an' things. 
An' when you 'most give up, 'ithout more words 
Toss the fields full 0' blossoms, leaves, an' birds : 

15 Thet's Northun natur', slow an' apt to doubt, 

But when it doos git stirred, ther's no gin-out ! 

Fust come the blackbirds clatt'rin' in tall trees, 
An' settlin' things in windy Congresses, — 
Queer politicians, though, for I'll be skinned 

20 Ef all on 'em dont head against the wind. 
'Fore long the trees begin to show belief. 
The maple crimsons to a coral-reef. 
Then safFern swarms swing off from all the willers 
So plump they look like yaller caterpillars, 

25 Then gray hossches'nut's leetle hands unfold 
Softer'n a baby's be at three days old : 
Thet's robin-redbreast's almanick ; he knows 
Thet arter this there's only blossom snows ; 
So, choosin' out a handy crotch an' spouse, 

30 He goes to plast'rin' his adobe house. 

Then seems to come a hitch, — things lag behind. 
Till some fine mornin' Spring makes up her mind, 
An' ez, when snow-swelled rivers cresh their dams 
Heaped-up with ice thet dovetails in an' jams, 

35 A leak comes spirtin' thru some pinhole cleft. 
Grows stronger, fercer, tears out right an' left, 
Then all the waters bow themselves an' come, 
Suddin, in one gret slope o' shedderin' foam, 
Jes' so our Spring gits every thin' in tune 

4Q An' gives one leap from April into June. 



232 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

The striking characteristics of this passage are 
similar to those noted in the extract from *' Sir Laun- 
fal." There is a whole chapter of poetical botany 
in it and the immediately following lines ; and there 
are some interesting hints at bird-lore ; but it is all 
such knowledge as any sensitive, intelligent observer 
can obtain for himself. Lines 4-6 and 21-22 are 
examples of the perfect realism and delicate fancy 
with which the characteristic -beauties of our spring 
blossoms are pointed out. Let the student search 
out others for himself. The dialect is admirably 
managed in this selection. It gives a racy, countri- 
fied flavor to the whole passage which greatly in- 
creases the effect. And if the dialect of *' The 
Biglow Papers" is studied, with the guidance of the 
introduction to the second series, the study will 
amount to a respectable little course in the history 
of our language. 

Some of Lowell's strongest work has been done in 
lyric poetry. Among the earlier poems no one more 
fully expresses the deepest soul of the poet than 
"The Present Crisis," and probably none has more 
deeply moved other men. It expresses the poet's 
ideal of progress, in thought and in reform. Writ- 
ten for a special crisis, it fits all crises, when the 
question is between old abuses and new reforms. 
It is full of lines that cling to the memory, and 
will always be quoted by those who are leading 
toward better things. 



i88o] Vei^se — The New England Poets 233 

Though the cause of Evil prosper, yet 'tis Truth alone is strong, 
And, albeit she wander outcast now, I see around her throng 
Troops of beautiful, tall angels, to enshield her from all wrong. 

Truth forever on the scaffold. Wrong forever on the throne, — 
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, 
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. 

New occasions teach new duties ; Time makes ancient good un- 
couth ; 

They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of 
Truth ; 

Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires ! we ourselves must Pilgrims be. 

Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate 
winter sea. 

Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key. 

There is an inspiring march movement in these 
long trochaic lines. We feel as we read them that 
we are keeping step with the great army of progress 
who march ''abreast with Truth"; and the strong 
thought is thus fitted with a strong expression. 
Lowell's later volumes include two extended medi- 
tative poems, full of suggestive thought : " Under the 
Willows," and "The Cathedral." But it is the judg- 
ment of many critics that he reached the highest 
point of his poetical career in the " Harvard Com- 
memoration Ode," written in 1865, in honor of the 
graduates and students of Harvard University who 
had given their lives in the Civil War. It is prob- 
ably the noblest ode in American Literature, and 
for eloquent expression of noble thoughts distin- 
guished among all such compositions. 

Take from the " Commemoration Ode " some 



234 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

passages in the sixth strophe, in which the charac- 
ter of Lincoln is described. 

Nature, they say, doth dote, 
And cannot make a man 
Save on some worn-out plan, 
Repeating us by rote : 
5 For him her Old World moulds aside she threw, 

And, choosing sweet clay from the breast 
Of the unexhausted West, 
With stuff untainted shaped a hero new. 
Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. 

?{c :f: ;t: :f: ^ ;jc :je 

10 They could not choose but trust 

In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, 
And supple-tempered will 
That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. 
His was no lonely mountain peak of mind, 

IS Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, 

A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind ; 
Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined. 
Fruitful and friendly for all human kind. 
Yet also nigh to heaven and loved of loftiest stars. 

20 Here was a type of the true elder race. 

And one of Plutarch's men talked with us face to face. 
******* 
He knew to bide his time. 
And can his fame abide. 
Still patient in his simple faith sublime, 
25 Till the wise years decide. 

These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, 

Our children shall behold his fame. 
The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, 
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, 
30 New birth of our new soil, the first American. ^ 

1 Copyright, 1865, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



i88o] Vej'se — The Nezv England Poets 235 

The metaphors- and similes used here are notable 
for their freshness and force. See lines 5, 11-13, 17. 
The last, especially, is thoroughly American, and 
happily adapted to the circumstance that Lincoln 
came to the Presidency from the prairie state of 
Illinois. The epithets are especially suggestive, and 
well suited to the character they illustrate. Thus 
"supple-tempered will," line 12; ''level-lined," line 
17. There are a number of lines in this selection 
which are notable for their clear, strong expres- 
sion of thought. Read lines 8, 19, 21, 28-30, and 
especially the closing line. In all of these the 
thought crowds the words full, and yet it is clearly 
uttered. This is the secret of effective writing. To 
say fully what is in your mind, yet not to use a word 
more than is needed, is the problem. Then the form 
of the sentence and the words chosen have much to 
do with the effect. We notice in these lines the 
sound effects we have noted so often. The last line 
is one of those rare phrases struck out in the glow 
of composition, which put into a very few words 
what many people have tried to say, but knew not 
how. It characterizes Lincoln, as no one else has 
succeeded in doing. That is the remarkable thing 
about this strophe of the ode. It gave within a few 
months of Lincoln's death the judgment of posterity, 
as to his fame, not in general terms, but with a nice 
discrimination of the essential quality of his great- , 
ness. ^^ 

Perhaps most truly American, and certainly most 
intensely " New England," of the New England 



236 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



John 

Greenleaf 
Whittier, 
born in 
Massachu- 
setts, 1807 ; 
died in New 
Hampshire, 
1892. 



poets, was John Greenleaf Whittier. He was a 
farmer's boy, whose childhood was spent in the 
ordinary work of one of the hill farms of Massa- 
chusetts. His education was such as could be ob- 
tained in the district school, followed by a few 
interrupted terms in the academy, and some district 
school teaching, for which his academy studies were 
supposed to prepare him, supplemented by the very 
few books that could be found in his father's house. 
In these respects his life is sharply contrasted with 
the scholastic career of the other New England poets. 
A volume of Burns' poems, which came into his 
hands when he was fourteen years old, had much 
to do with his true education. The impulse to poetry 
came very early in life ; and he began, when yet a 
lad, to send his verses to the papers. Some lines 
printed in the "Liberator" attracted the attention 
of William Lloyd Garrison, then its editor, and he 
sought out the young author, and encouraged him 
to give his pen to the cause of antislavery. Whit- 
tier's family were Friends, or Quakers ; and the poet 
always retained his connection with that company 
of Christians. Thus he was by training, as well as 
by the natural tendency of his mind, inclined to 
take up the cause of the slave. In his early man- 
hood he was actively engaged in political move- 
ments; but he saw that, if he was to be a successful 
agitator, he must give up hopes and plans for politi- 
cal preferment ; and this sacrifice he deliberately 
made. At the same time he refused to follow Garri- 
son in his rejection of all political action ; but, 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 237 

through others, was always ready to employ political 
methods for the furtherance of his cause. He was 
editor of "The American Manufacturer," in Boston, 
1829; of ''The Haverhill Gazette," in 1830; and, 
later, of "The New England Weekly Review," in 
Hartford, Connecticut. In 1836 he was secretary 
of the American Antislavery Society; and in 1838- 
1839 edited "The Pennsylvania Freeman," at Phila- 
delphia. In 1840 he went to live at Amesbury, 
Massachusetts, and from this time till his death his 
history is simply the history of his poetry. 

This falls into two divisions, very distinctly marked 
by the prevailing characteristics of the poems. The 
first division includes the poems written during the 
antislavery struggle, from 183 1 to the close of the 
Civil War in 1865. The second includes those of 
his later years, the period of peace, extending from the 
publication of "Snowbound," in 1866, to the volume 
called " At Sundown," issued the year of his death, 
1892. His earlier volumes contained some efforts 
to use the Indian legends as subjects for poems. 
They were moderately successful ; but " Mogg Me- 
gone " and "The Bridal of Pennacook" made no 
such triumphant appeal to the reading public as did 
Longfellow's " Hiawatha." In " Cassandra South- 
wick," he has given us a beautiful ballad of the 
persecution of the Quakers by the Puritans, the 
persecution which resulted in the conversion of Whit- 
tier's ancestors to the doctrines of the Friends. 
But Whittier really found voice first in the volume "Voices of 

•^ Freedom, 

called "Voices of Freedom," published in 1849. In 1849. 



238 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

the "Proem," dated 1847, he gives a little study 
of himself as a poet, which is remarkable for the 
calm critical justice with which he estimates his 
power and confesses his limitations. 

PROEM 



The rigor of a frozen clime, 
The harshness of an untaught ear. 
The jarring words of one whose rhyme 
Beat often Labor's hurried time, 
Or Duty's rugged march through storm and strife, are here. 

Of mystic beauty, dreamy grace, 
No rounded art the lack supplies ; 
Unskilled the subtle lines to trace, 
Or softer shades of Nature's face, 
I view her common forms with unanointed eyes. 

Nor mine the seer-like power to show 
The secrets of the heart and mind ; 
To drop the plummet line below 
Our common world of joy and woe, 
A more intense despair or brighter hope to find. 

Yet here at least an earnest sense 
Of human right and weal is shown ; 
A hate of tyranny intense, 
And hearty in its vehemence, 
As if my brother's pain and sorrow were my own. 

Oh Freedom! if to me belong 
Nor mighty Milton's gift divine, 
Nor Marveirs wit and graceful song. 
Still with a love as deep and strong 
As theirs, I lay, like them, my best gifts on thy shrine ! 

If this perhaps too modestly emphasizes the limita- 
tions and fails to recognize the artistic excellence 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 239 

which his fine poetic sense secures, it clearly points 
out the sources of special power in his early work. 
He flung himself, heart and soul, into the antislavery 
contest, and the intensity of his feeling gives fire and 
force to the least perfect of his lines. This intensity 
of feeling never degenerates into bitterness. He was 
able to realize the position of those involved, by cir- 
cumstances, in the system he was fighting. His 
'' Randolph of Roanoke " is a remarkable and beau- 
tiful example of this breadth of view, and charity 
toward opponents. 

In 1850 appeared the volume called ''Songs of "Songs of 

X 1 )» T 1 • • 1 r •' r Labor," 1850. 

Labor. It takes its title from a series of poems 
showing the wTiter's sympathy with all forms of toih 
But the two most striking poems in the volume do 
not belong to this series. They are " Barclay of 
Ury," a spirited ballad, describing the conversion to 
Quaker principles of a brave old Scotchman who 
had been a good fighter in the army of Gustavus 
Adolphus ; and '' Ichabod," in which is most solemnly 
expressed the feeling of most antislavery men about 
Daniel Webster's "Seventh of March Speech." 

In ''The Chapel of the Hermits," 1852, appeared "TheChapei 
the stinging satire upon the relation of the church of ^^^^^ ^^ll,_ 
his time to slavery and the fugitive slave law, called 
"A Sabbath Scene," the closing stanzas of which, 
however, show how Whittier's convictions rest on the 
basis of religious faith. " First Day Thoughts," in 
the same volume, gives very beautifully the positive 
belief which was one of the main sources of his 
power. 



240 Period of the Later Nijieteenth Ceritiiry [1850 

And, as the path of duty is made plain, 
May grace be given that I may walk therein, 

Not like the hireling, for his selfish gain, 
With backward glances and reluctant tread. 
Making a merit of his coward dread, — 

But, cheerful, in the light around me thrown, 

Walking as one to pleasant service led ; 

Doing God's will as if it were my own, 
Yet trusting not in mine, but in his strength alone ! 

"The Pan- The volume called "The Panorama," 1856, con- 

orama, i 5 . ^g^jj^gj ^^^q poems which have perhaps done as much 
as any of his works to give Whittier widespread 
fame. They are "The Barefoot Boy" and "Maud 
Muller." Either of these could be condemned, in 
passages, from a technical point of view ; but they 
have an element of real greatness in the expression 
of a thought or mood or feeling which is deep in hu- 
man nature, and which therefore appeals to the uni- 
versal consciousness ; the one with its revelation of the 
joy of childhood, the other with its recognition of 
the tragedy that often lies in the common, matter-of- 
course incidents of life. " Maud Muller" has been 
one of the most popular ballads ever written in 
America. 
"In War ''In War Time," 1863, and "National Lyrics," 

Time," 1863. 1 i 1 • i • i ^- -i 

"National Io^Sj gathered up the poems written durmg the Civil 
Lyrics," 1865. War. It seems rather strange that a Quaker poet 
should have been the chief singer of the war time. 
A study of these poems, however, will show no love 
of battle for its own sake ; but a celebration of the 
triumph of the principles for which he always con- 
tended. 



i88o] Verse — The Neiv England Poets 241 

This completes the first period of Whittier's poeti- 
cal work. He had been successful in writing fervent 
appeals and soul-stirring ballads. The question would 
naturally arise whether he could be equally successful 
as a poet of peace. To this question the triumphant 
answer is '' Snowbound," which appeared in 1866. bound," 1866. 

The volumes that followed appeared rapidly. 
Whittier's pen was facile and he produced freely. 
Yet these later poems show a higher, more delicate 
art than even his most successful earlier work. " The 
Tent on the Beach," 1867, is a collection of narra- 
tive poems, arranged somewhat on the plan of Long- 
fellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn." "Among the 
Hills," 1868, contained, besides the title poem, "The 
Two Rabbis," a profound study of the problem of 
religious service. In the same volume, " The Meet- 
ing " is of unique value, as probably the only ex- 
pression in poetry of the real meaning of the 
formless form of worship of the Friends. In 1870 
" Miriam " appeared, containing, among other poems, 
the sweet idyll of childhood, " In School Days." 
"The Pennsylvania Pilgrim," 1872, had a ballad 
of strong tragic feeling, " Marguerite " ; and the 
volume of 1874, called " Hazel Blossoms," contained 
also a number of graceful verses by his sister Eliza- 
beth. In 1876 Whittier was chosen to write the 
hymn for the Centennial celebration at Philadelphia ; 
and in the years succeeding, he published the follow- 
ing volumes : "The Vision of Echard," 1878; "The 
King's Missive," 1881 ; "The Bay of Seven Islands," 
1883; "Saint Gregory's Quest," 1886; and "At 

R 



242 Period of tJie Later NiiictccntJi Century [1850 

Sundown," a collection of a few last poems, privately 
printed in 1890, and published in 1892. 

"Snowbound'' is an idyll of the old New England 
life. It takes us into the farmhouse and opens to us 
the hearts and lives of its inmates. It is a most 
beautiful example of the poetry of common things, 
the seer-like power of looking into the heart of every- 
day realities and telling us their lesson. It describes 
a phase of American life which has vanished, both 
for gain and for loss, and the conditions of whose 
existence can never be repeated. Hence " Snow- 
bound " has an enduring historical value, in addition 
to its priceless worth as poetry. 

Take, first, the passage describing the snowstorm. 

Unwarmed by any sunset light, 
The gray day darkened into night, 
A night made hoary with the swarm 
And whirl-dance of the blinding storm, 

****** 

5 Around the glistering wonder bent 

The blue walls of the firmament, 
No cloud above, no earth below, — 
A universe of sky and snow ! 

****** 

The bridle-post an old man sat 
10 With loose-flung coat and high cocked hat ; 

The well-curb had a Chinese roof; 
And even the long sweep, high aloof, • 

In its slant splendor, seemed to tell 
Of Pisa\s leaning miracle. 

Notice, as of unusual descriptive power, hues 3-4, 
and 5-8, especially 8. Notice how the snow trans- 



i88o] Verse — The New England Poets 243 

forms the commonplace into the poetical in the 
poet's imagination: the "well-sweep" into "Pisa's 
leaning miracle." Take, again, the passage describ- 
ing the occupants of the barn : 

IS The old horse thrust his long head out, 

And grave with wonder gazed ahout ; 

The cock his lusty greeting said, 

And forth his speckled harem led ; 

The oxen lashed their tails, and hooked, 
20 And mild reproach of hunger looked ; 

The horned patriarch of the sheep, 

Like Egypt's Amun roused from sleep. 

Shook his sage head with gesture mute. 

And emphasized with stamp of foot. 

Whittier never, so far as I know, preached 
"Realism" or " Veritism " in art. He probably 
would not have cared about the name. But the real 
truth that lies in those words is by no one better 
illustrated than by him. He was not in the least 
afraid to put commonplace things into his verse, for 
he had the imaginative power by which the true poet 
sees pictures in what to other eyes contain only 
things. As an example of a very different sort of 
poetic power, take the passage describing the .stranger 
guest : 

25 A woman tropical, intense 

In thought and act, in soul and sense. 

She blended in a like degree 

The vixen and the devotee, 

Revealing with each freak or feint 
30 The temper of Petruchio's Kate, 

The raptures of Siena's .saint. 

Her tapering hand and njunded wrist 

Had facile power to form a fist ; 



244 Period of the Later Nineteenth Ceiitnry [1850 

The warm, dark languish of her eyes 
35 Was never safe from wrath's surprise. 

Brows saintly calm and lips devout 
Knew every change of scowl and pout ; 
And the sweet voice had notes more high 
And shrill for social battle-cry. 1 

It is a triumph of art to introduce this warm tropi- 
cal nature into the calm New England company. 
It is not unreal, for just such natures were found 
there, and the life is not to be understood without 
reckoning them. But it is the work of a true genius 
to see this reality, and be able without an effect of 
incongruity to introduce this bit of warm color among 
his neutral tints. 

Whittier is preeminently the ballad writer among 
our poets. Many of his poems easily become hymns, 
and he combines the power of lyrical expression with 
the swift movement of the story in verse as does no 
other American poet. Without the peculiar musical 
smoothness of Longfellow, the subtle thought of 
Emerson, the wit and humor of Holmes, the fulness 
of allusion and rich expressiveness of Lowell, there 
is in Whittier, in peculiar force, the song-story quality 
which makes a successful ballad. 

•^ A striking example of this " song story," or ballad, 
is the very familiar war poem, '' Barbara Frietchie." 
Probably, unless we except *' Maud Muller," this is the 
most widely popular of Whittier's writings. There 
has been a good deal of dispute as to whether the 
incident it relates is a bit of actual historic fact or 

1 Copyright, 1866, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



i88o] Verse — The Nezv England Poets 24$ 

not ; and the weight of evidence seems to incHne to 
the view that it never happened just as Whittier tells 
it. But this is not of any great importance. It was 
one of the stories current at the time, and unques- 
tionably based to some extent on fact. Whittier 
accepted it, and put it into the form of a ballad, to 
express certain great truths of feeling. In studying 
it, we are not attracted to technical points of form. 
Whatever of alliteration, or other such qualities, 
exists, seems to have come about by the natural 
instinct of the writer rather than by conscious artis- 
tic effort. 

The measure has a fine swinging march move- 
ment ; for example, the lines 

All day long through Frederick street 
Sounded the tread of marching feet : 

All day long that free flag tost 
Over the heads of the rebel host. 

The rimes are generally good ; but in one instance, 

as in the lines 

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff, 
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf, 

Whittier does not hesitate to sacrifice rime to reason. 
The picture of Frederick and the country around it 
shows descriptive power, as does the line introducing 
Stonewall Jackson, and that already cited, suggesting 
the picture of the marching regiments with Barbara's 
flag waving over their heads. The descriptive effect 
in these lines seems to be due to the statement in 
fewest possible words of one or two striking particu- 
lars. In many of the lines there is a fitting of sound 



246 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

to sense, to this extent, that the swing of the measure 
suggests the marching feet of the army. Indeed, a 
company of soldiers could march well to the rhythm 
of this ballad, whose time-beats fall as regularly and 
as forcibly as drum-taps. Movement is perhaps the 
most striking quality. We see the host coming into 
the town ; we see the waving flags and feel the shame 
of their fall. Then comes the swift episode of Bar- 
bara, the flag waving from the window, the volley 
from the soldiers' muskets, and the daring deed of 
the old woman ; then the marching of the troops on 
and through the town, the tossing of the one flag 
on the breeze, and then, to emphasize it all by con- 
trast, the stillness of the night : 

And ever the stars above look down 
On thy stars below in Frederick town. 

But the true secret of the power and popularity of 
this ballad lies deeper. It caught and expressed in 
stirring words one of the strongest enthusiasms of 
the war time, — that for the flag. The feeling which 
made the color-sergeant hold the flag with his arms, 
when both hands had been crippled, and die hugging 
it to him ; the feeling which gave rise to the affec- 
tionate nickname, " Old Glory " ; the feeling which 
takes the place in an American of the personal 
loyalty of an Englishman to the Queen, — this feel- 
ing throbs through every line. The great English 
ballads, like *' Chevy Chase," for example, have gen- 
erally thus seized upon some popular enthusiasm, 
and so made themselves an enduring place in the 
hearts of men. And this is one reason that Whit- 



i88o] Verse — The Neiv England Poets 247 

tier's ballads take such strong and enduring hold 
upon the popular affections. 

Other writers of the New England group I shall be 
obliged to consider very briefly, though many of them 
would well repay extended study. Jones Very ex- Jones Very, 
pressed the '' Transcendental " philosophy in thought- 
ful verse. His first volume of poems, in which he 
voices this philosophy before Emerson's poetry had 
appeared, was published in 1839. Thus his work 
begins in the previous period. But he lived and 
wrote also in the later time. Posthumous editions 
of his works appeared in 1883 and 1886. He has 
written some especially perfect sonnets. He is con- 
sidered by some critics one of the most suggestive 
and strongest writers of his generation. I will take 
space for one of his sonnets, which, it will be 
noticed, does not follow the strict Italian rules in 
the arrangement of its rimes. 

THE DEAD 

I see them, — crowd on crowd they walk the earth, 

Dry leafless trees no autumn wind laid bare ; 

And in their nakedness find cause for mirth, 

And all unclad would winter''s rudeness dare ; 

No sap doth through their clattering branches flow, 

Whence springing leaves and blossoms bright appear; 

Their hearts the living God have ceased to know 

Who gives the springtime to th"' expectant year. 

They mimic life, as if from Him to steal 

His glow of health to paint the livid cheek ; 

They borrow words for thoughts they cannot feel, 

That with a seeming heart their tongue may speak ; 

And in their show of life more dead they live 

Than those that to the earth with many tears they give. 



248 Period of the Later Ninetee^tth Century [1850 



Celia 

Thaxter, 

1836-1894. 



William 
Wetmore 
Story, 
1819-1895. 



John God- 
frey Saxe, 
1816-1887. 



Thomas Wil- 
liam Parsons, 
1819-1892. 



Lucy 

Larcom, 

1826-1893. 



Christopher 
Pearse 
Cranch, 
1813-1892. 



Celia Thaxter, from her home on the Isles of 
Shoals, where she spent a singularly secluded girl- 
hood, gave the world beautiful pictures of the nature 
in the midst of which she lived. William Wetmore 
Story, son of the great Chief Justice of Massachu- 
setts, and one of the most distinguished of American 
sculptors, varied his artistic life by writing thoughtful 
and graceful verse and charming essays. John God- 
frey Saxe, from the hills of Vermont, kept a continual 
flow of fun in verse, which was always bright and 
attractive and often musical. Thomas William Par- 
sons was a dental surgeon, who devoted his leisure 
to literary work and gained distinction in poetry. 
His verses " On a Bust of Dante " are well known, 
and his rimed version of the " Inferno " and parts 
of the " Purgatorio " and " Paradiso " is a sympa- 
thetic and noble interpretation of the great Tuscan 
poet. It is said that he is the original of " The 
Poet," of the "Wayside Inn." Lucy Larcom was 
one of the Lowell, Massachusetts, factory girls, who 
excited Dickens' amazement on his first visit to 
America by their general intelligence and high 
character. She ceased to be a factory girl, and 
became a very popular poet. Her verse is musical, 
sweet, helpful in its tone, a true reflection of the 
pure, earnest, aspiring New England woman's soul. 
Christopher Pearse Cranch was born in Virginia, but 
he resided in New England and was identified with 
New England life and thought. He was a painter 
of considerable reputation. He was one of the con- 
tributors to the " Dial," the journal of the "Transcen- 



i88o] Verse — TJie Nczv England Poets 249 

dentalists," and wrote a translation of Virgil's '*^neid " 
and much other good verse. Henry Howard Brownell Henry How- 
was the most voluminous poet of the Civil War. He 1820-1872. 
saw some of the most exciting passages of the fight- 
ing, as acting ensign of Farragut's flag-ship, and one 
of his most important poems is a description of the 
fight at Mobile Bay. His poems are among the best 
war verses in our Literature. Charles Timothy Charles 
Brooks was a clergyman of Newport, Rhode Island, Brooks, 
who published verse of a scholarly, elegant charac- 1813-1883. 
ter, and wrote one of the best versions of Goethe's 
"Faust." John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irishman, John Boyle 
who was implicated in the Fenian uprising, arrested, 1844-18^3. 
condemned to death, and his sentence commuted to 
transportation to Australia. He escaped from Aus- 
tralia to this country, and became editor of the 
" Boston Pilot." He published " Songs from the 
Southern Seas," and other volumes of verse, which 
has a Celtic richness of imagery and warmth of 
feeling. He made himself so much honored in the 
land and state of his adoption that, when the monu- 
ment to the Pilgrim Fathers was dedicated at Plym- 
outh, this Irish Roman Catholic delivered the poem 
for the occasion. The following short lyric is thor- 
oughly American in its tone : 

A DEAD MAN ^ 

The Trapper died — our hero — and we grieved ; 
In every heart in camp the sorrow stirred. 
"His soul was red ! " the Indian cried, bereaved ; 
"A white man, he ! " the grim old Yankee's word. 

1 From "The Pilot," 1878, by permission of the editor and of 
Mr. O'Reilly's executor. 



250 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

So, brief and strong, each mourner gave his best, — 
How kind he was ! how brave ! how keen to track ; 
And, as we laid him by the pines to rest, 
A negro spoke with tears : " His heart was black ! " 



QUESTIONS 

Give some account of the life of Emerson. What was the 
nature of his influence ? What was his method ? In what sense 
was he a mystic? What w^as the form of most of his poems? 
What defect is there in their expression of thought? What 
^reat excellence do they have? State some of the elements of 
strength and beauty in the poem •' Concord Fight/'' How does 
the "Rhodora'' illustrate "his independent management of form? 
Note a line in which alliteration is effectively used. Note the 
effect of the irregularity in one of the lines. What special sug- 
gestiveness in the poem "Days"? What contrast? What 
message finds expression in the extract from " Voluntaries " ? 
What are some of the more difficult of his poems? 

What writers constitute the '' Cambridge Group "' ? Give some 
general account of the life of Oliver Wendell Holmes. What 
are some of the most striking characteristics of his poetry? What 
was his relation to political and religious movements? With 
what did his literary career begin, and how long did it continue? 
Give the order of publication of his most important works. What 
is the special charm of '• The Last Leaf"? What notable quality 
of the humor? What finely suggestive adjective? What is the 
effect of the closing stanza? For w^hat difficult kind of verse was 
Holmes particularly distinguished? Explain the college class 
feeling illustrated in some of his poems. What feeling pervades 
the poem "The Boys"? Who are some of the distinguished 
men alluded to in this poem ? To what class of poems does " The 
Chambered Nautilus " belong ? What lyrical qualities are strong 
in it? What is the progress of thought? How does the stanza 
structure accord with the thought? What is the significance of 
the line arrangement? What fine examples of assonance and 
alliteration does it contain? 

Give the principal events of the life of Henry Wadsworth 
Longfellow. How are some of the supreme crises of his life 



i88o] Questions 251 

associated with his poems ? What were his first publications ? 
What poem first gave him popularity? What was his first vol- 
ume of poems ? What famous ballads were in one of his earlier 
volumes ? What was the origin of " Evangeline " ? Describe the 
plan of "Christus." Give some account of "Hiawatha.'" In 
what sense is it original? What quality, unusual for Longfellow, 
is found in " The Courtship of Miles Standish " ? What was the 
plan of "The Tales of a Wayside Inn"? What were his later 
publications? What is the central incident of "Evangeline"? 
In the selection, how does the style correspond to the thought? 
Note the use of alliteration and assonance. Is the hexameter 
line in this poem successfully used? What are some of the 
peculiarities of the verse in the selection from " The Golden 
Legend"? How is character brought out ? Is the poem really 
dramatic in its effect ? What are some of the evidences of artis- 
tic skill in the "Hymn to the Night"? What is the rime 
scheme ? What figure prevades the whole ? What special char- 
acteristics of Longfellow are illustrated by this poem ? 

Give an outline of the career of James Russell Lowell. Into 
what two groups may his poetical works be divided ? What is 
his ideal of the poet's mission as expressed in two of his earlier 
poems? What are some of the more important poems in his 
earlier volumes ? What are some of the characteristic qualities 
of "Sir Launfal"? In the extracts from that poem what are 
some of the evidences of real observation of nature ? What are 
examples of his power of expression? How is his ideal illus- 
trated ? What is the character of the " Fable for Critics " ? 
What historical events were the occasion of " The Biglow 
Papers " ? What dramatic qualities do they display ? What is 
the effect of the dialect ? What evidences of nature study in the 
selection ? What are some of the qualities, in form and thought, 
of " The Present Crisis " ? What poem probably comes nearest 
to LowelPs ideal? In the selection from " The Commemoration 
Ode," what metaphors and similes are notable for freshness and 
force? What epithets are especially well chosen? Point out 
some lines of especial strength. What evidence of remarkable 
insight is there in these lines? 

How did Whittier's early life differ from that of the other 
poets of the "New England Group"? What was his relation 
to the antislavery movement? How may his poetry be divided? 



252 Period of the Later NinetcentJi Century [1850-80 

What qualities are noted by himself in the " Proem '^ to "Voices 
of Freedom " ? What poems of special interest appeared in the 
volume called ''Songs of Labor"? How are his religious feel- 
ing^ revealed in the poems cited from "The Chapel of the Her- 
mits " volume ? What are some of the reasons for the great 
popularity of " Maud Muller " ? What was Whittier's relation 
to the Civil War of 1 861-1865 \ ^^^^ what famous ballad belongs to 
that period? What are some of the more important volumes of 
his poetry since 1865? To what class of poems does "Snow- 
bound" belong? What sort of life does it reveal? What lines 
of special descriptive power in the opening passage? In what 
lines does poetic imagination specially appear? How does the 
poem show realistic power? What special realistic power is 
shown in the last selection? In what class of poems has Whit- 
tier shown surpassing excellence ? What is the story of " Barbara 
Frietchie" ? What special quality of form characterizes it? What 
special descriptive effects are there, and how are they secured? 
How is sound fitted to sense? What is the most striking quality? 
What contrast at the close? What is the secret of this ballad's 
power ? 




^=t-^ 



CHAPTER X 

Period of the Later Nineteenth Century, 
1850-1880 

VERSE (Continued) 
One of the most interesting figures in our Litera- wait 



Whitman, 
born in New 



ture is that of Walt Whitman. He was a printer by 

trade, taught school, and worked at the trade of car- York, 1819; 

. died in New 

penter. He acted as a volunteer nurse m the army jersey, 1892. 
hospitals during the war of 1 861-1865, and held a 
government clerkship in Washington till 1874. The 
last years of his life he lived in retirement in Camden, 
New Jersey. He had extreme theories as to poetry, 
and tried to carry them out in his own work. He 
believed that everything connected with human life 
is essentially pure, and therefore fit subject for poeti- 
cal treatment. An attempt to carry out this theory 
with absolute literalness might be expected to lead 
to some startling results, and it does in the case of 
Whitman's poetry. No one who has studied his 
work or his character can think that he has any im- 
pure or immoral intention. But the effect in general 
literature of some of his writings is very much the 
same as that which would be produced by a crazy 
man appearing on the street without his clothes. No 
one would receive moral injury, but the police would 
cover him up and insist on his retiring. Another 

253 



254 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

theory of Whitman's is an extreme development of 
Wordsworth's dictum that there is no real distinction 
between poetic and prose diction. In some of his 
compositions Whitman seems to abandon any distinc- 
tion of form except the arrangement of words in 
lines of varying length. In many of them, however, 
there is a majestic rhythm, like that of some of the 
passages of the Psalms and Prophets in the English 
Bible. Sometimes he piles up names in shapeless 
mounds of speech ; or strings them together in long 
lists of things connected with the subject of which 
he is writing. But in many passages he has voiced 
the music and the poetry in our everyday modern 
life ; and he sometimes uses the forms of metre and 
rhythm and rime with very grand and beautiful effect, 
making us wish he had not been quite so much a 
slave to his own theories. 

He has been extravagantly praised and as ex- 
travagantly condemned. In England especially, his 
writings have been welcomed as the most character- 
istic American work that has ever appeared. Emer- 
son spoke of them in the highest terms ; and there 
has always been a little company of Whitman wor- 
shippers. On the other hand, certain — very few — 
passages in his books, the results of his extreme 
theories, are as impossible to read in general com- 
pany as some passages of Chaucer, and led to the 
prohibition of the sale of his works in Massachusetts. 
There can be no doubt that some of Whitman's writ- 
ings will last as long as anything in our Literature ; 
and some thoughtful critics will always consider 



i88o] Verse 255 

these as among the great productions of the human 
mind. But it seems probable, also, that the crudi- 
ties of form and grossness of expression which mar 
them will prevent their ever gaining general accep- 
tance. 

*' Leaves of Grass " is the most complete example 
of his peculiarities. It was issued in constantly 
changing form, in a number of editions, from 1855 to 
1883. ''Drum Taps," 1865; '' Democratic Vistas," 
1870; ''Memoranda during the War," 1875; "No- 
vember Boughs," 1888; and " Autobiographia," 1892, 
are among his most important publications. A selec- 
tion of his writings has been edited by Mr. Arthur 
Stedman, which is probably the most easily accessible 
means of getting at what is best in Whitman. The 
following brief selections are to some extent repre- 
sentative of his work. 

First, as a very moderate example of his more 
prosaic manner, read these lines from 

O VAST RONDURE 

After the seas are all crossed (as they seem already crossed), 
After the great captains and engineers have accomplished their 

work, 
After the noble inventors, after the scientists, the chemist, the 

geologist, ethnologist, 
Finally shall come the poet worthy that name, 
The true son of God shall come singing his songs. 

Imagine the line about the inventors and scientists 
spun out in the same way to a length of three or four 
ordinary lines, and you will have Whitman in his 



256 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

most exasperating form. As an example of his best 

work, read 

TO THE MAN-OF-WAR BIRD ^ 

Thou who hast slept all night upon the storm. 

Waking renew'd on thy prodigious pinions. 

(Burst the wild storm? above it thou ascended'st 

And rested on the sky. thy slave that cradled thee), 

Now a blue point, far, far in heaven floating. 

As to the light emerging here on deck I watch thee, 

(Myself a speck, a point, on the world's floating vast) . 

Far. far at sea, 

After the night's fierce drifts have strewn the shore with wrecks, 

With reappearing day as now so happy and serene, 

The rosy and elastic dawn, the flashing sun, 

The limpid spread of air cerulean. 

Thou also reappearest. 

Thou born to match the gale (thou art all wings). 

To cope with heaven and earth and sea and hurricane. 

Thou ship of air that never furl'st thy sails, 

Days, even weeks untired and onward, through spaces, realms, 

g}Tating, 
At dusk that look'st on Senegal, at morn America, 
That sporfst amid the lightning flash and thunder cloud. 
In them, in thy experiences, hadst thou my soul. 
What joys I what joys were thine ! 

Notice the boldness and originality of the phrases 
"slept all night upon the storm," "the sky, thy slave 
that cradled thee," "the night's fierce drifts," "the 
rosy and elastic dawn," " Thou ship of air that never 
furl' St thy sails." Any one of these would give 
character to a much longer poem by other writers. 
There is a grand rhythm in this, like the sweep of 

1 These selections from Whitman are from " Leaves of Grass," 
Small, Maynard & Co., Publishers, by permission of the literary execu- 
tors. 



i88o] Verse 257 

the bird's wings. And the thought with which the 
poem closes is subUme, and grandly spoken. If 
Whitman had always written like this, there would 
have been no question with any one as to his great- 
ness. That he could pull in harness if he would is 
proved by some beautiful poems, in which the metre 
is perfect, though he refuses even in these to be 
hampered by rime. Many pieces of verse of many 
grades of excellence were suggested by the tragic 
death of Abraham Lincoln ; but, by general consent, 
the first place among them will be given, if not to 
the passage quoted from Lowell's " Commemoration 
Ode," then to Whitman's '' Captain, my Captain." 
While Lowell gave supreme utterance to the nation's 
judgment as to Lincoln's character. Whitman ex- 
pressed, as did no other poet, the despairing grief 
of the moment of his death. Hence it must be said 
that as lyric poetry Whitman's is the finer work. 

CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN 

O Captain ! my Captain ! our fearful trip is done, 
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won, 
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, 
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring ; 

But O heart ! heart ! heart ! 

O the bleeding drops of red. 

Where on the deck my Captain lies. 

Fallen cold and dead. 

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells ; 
Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills, — 
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths — for you the shores 
a-crowding. 



258 Period of tJie Later Nineteenth Ce^itiiry [1850 

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning ; 
Here, Captain ! dear father I 
This arm beneath your head ! 
It is some dream that on the deck, 
You've fallen cold and dead. 

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, 
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, 
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, 
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won ; 

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells ! 

But I with mournful tread. 

Walk the deck my Captain lies, 

Fallen cold and dead. 



Josiah 
Gilbert 
Holland, 
born in 
Massachu- 
setts, 1819; 
died in New 
York, 1881. 



One of the most useful men in literary life in 
America, during this period, and one whose writings 
reached one of the largest circles of readers, was 
Josiah Gilbert Holland. He was a typical Ameri- 
can, in the variety of his talents. His education was 
irregular, and obtained with difficulty. He taught 
school, at different times, in different parts of the 
country ; was an operator in a daguerrotypist's gal- 
lery ; studied medicine, and began its practice ; and, 
at last, at the age of thirty, found his real place, in 
journalism. He was for a number of years asso- 
ciated with Samuel Bowles, as editor of " The 
Springfield (Mass.) Republican," which, under their 
management, became one of our most widely influ- 
ential newspapers. His great work, in journalism, 
was the establishment of " Scribner's Monthly," 
which afterwards became *'The Century Magazine," 
and whose beginning certainly marks an important 
epoch in the development of the American monthly 



i88o] Verse 259 

magazine. As a poet, Dr. Holland is best known 
by '' Bittersweet," a poem partly in dramatic form, 
which appeared in 1858, and of which more than 
seventy-five thousand copies were sold. It is too 
much of a theological treatise for enduring popu- 
larity as a poem ; and lacks the spontaneity of a 
work of great genius. But it has some passages 
of .very great beauty ; for example, the slumber 
song "What is the Little One thinking about .'^" 
and the cellar scene with its delicious description 
of the apples and potatoes. Other narrative poems 
having similar characteristics to those of *' Bitter- 
sweet," but inferior in freshness of interest, are 
"Kathrina," "The Mistress of the Manse," and 
"The Marble Prophecy." 

Writers of popular war poems during the sixties 
were Charles G. Halpine, "Private Miles O'Reilly," 
and Forceythe Wilson, author of "The Old Ser- 
geant." The early death of the latter perhaps 
hindered his reaching the reputation which his 
poems seemed to promise. 

Emma Lazarus has a unique position among our Emma 
writers, as representing the Hebrew spirit in modern 
poetry. She was of Jewish race, and intensely in- York, 1849 ; 

^ ■' -^ ■' died, 1887. 

terested in the history of her people and in their 
present condition. She published a translation of the 
poems of Heinrich Heine, and a volume of original 
poems, called " Songs of a Semite." After her death' 
her works were published in a collected edition, 
under the title, " Poems, Narrative, Dramatic, and 
Lyric." As unique, in their subject and spirit, and 



Lazarus, 
born in New 



26o Period of the Later Nineteenth Cettttuy [1850 

as of great interest in themselves, they deserve at- 
tention, and a short lyric is therefore given. 

THE BANNER OF THE JEW ^ 

Wake, Israel, wake! Recall to-day 

The glorious Maccabean rage, 
The sire heroic, hoary-gray. 

His live-fold lion-lineage : 
The Wise, the Elect, the Help-of-God, 
The Burst-of-Spring, the Avenging Rod. 

From Mizpeh's mountain ridge they saw 

Jerusalem's empty streets, her shrine 
Laid waste where Greeks profaned the Law, 

With idol and with pagan sign. 
Mourners in tattered black were there, 
With ashes sprinkled on their hair. 

Then from the stony peak there rang 
A blast to ope the graves : downpoured 

The Maccabean clan, who sang 
Their battle-anthem to the Lord. 

Five heroes lead, and following, see. 

Ten thousand rush to victor}' ! 

Oh, for Jerusalem's trumpet now, 

To blow a blast of shattering power, 
To wake the sleepers high and low, 

And rouse them to the urgent hour ! 
No hand for vengeance — but to save, 
A million naked swords should wave. 

Oh deem not dead that martial fire. 

Say not the mystic flame is spent I 
With Moses' law and David's l}Te, 

Your ancient strength remains unbent. 
Let but an Ezra rise anew, 
To lift the Banner of the Jew! 

1 Copyright, i8S~2, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



i88o] Verse 261 

A rag. a mock at first — erelong, 

When men have bled and women wept, 
To guard its precious folds from wrong. 

Even they who shrunk, even they who slept, 
Shall leap to bless it, and to save. 
Strike ! for the brave revere the brave ! 

There are three poets who reached a high degree 
of fame during this period and who therefore should 
be studied here ; who, happily for the reading public, 
are still living and writing. Their work must there- 
fore be regarded as incomplete ; and the compara- 
tively small space we give to Mr. Stoddard, Mr. 
Aldrich, and Mr. Stedman is due to this happy cir- 
cumstance and is not to be considered as indicating 
their comparative importance. Of these the first 
named is the veteran of our living men of letters. 

Richard Henry Stoddard, though born in Massa- Richard 
chusetts, has spent almost all his life in New York, gtoddard 
where he has been one of our most industrious born in 

Massachu- 

and able writers. It is not easy to see why Mr. setts, 1825. 
Stoddard's poetry has not been more generally popu- 
lar. He has written some of the most beautiful 
verse in recent American poetry, but he has never 
struck exactly the note that rang in the popular ear 
so as to create a wide demand for his works. He 
has published : "Footprints," 1849; " Poems," 1852 ; 
''Songs of Summer," 1856; ''The King's Bell," 
1862; "The Book of the East," 1867; and "Under 
the Evening Lamp," 1892; besides biographies, juve- 
nile books, and a great deal of valuable work in the 
way of compilations and editions of the works of 
others. At his best, Mr. Stoddard shows a dehcate 



262 Period of the Later NiiieteentJi Century [1850 

fancy and sweet melody in verse, as is seen in the 
little lyric we give below. 

THE FLIGHT OF YOUTH ^ 

There are gains for all our losses, 

There are balms for all our pain : 

But when youth, the dream departs, 

It takes something from our hearts, 

And it never comes again. 

We are stronger, and are better. 
Under manhood's sterner reign : 
Still we feel that something sweet 
Followed youth, with flying feet. 
And will never come again. 

Something beautiful is vanished, 

And we sigh for it in vain : 
We behold it everywhere, 
On the earth, and in the air. 

But it never comes again. 

This has some of the finest qualities of pure lyric 
verse. It expresses the haunting sense of regret for 
what we cannot describe, but miss every moment, 
which all who have passed beyond youth experience. 
It has the beautiful reserve of fine art. All is said, 
and said musically and clearly ; but not a word too 
./much comes to mar the effect. 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was born in New Hamp- 
shire, and spent a considerable part of his life 
born in New in Ncw York, at first in mercantile business, but 

Hampshire, 

1836. later as editor of the "New York Home Journal." 

Subsequently he edited the '' Boston Every Satur- 
day," and for some years "The Atlantic Monthly." 
Mr. Aldrich has divided his strength about equally 

1 Printed by the courteous permission of the Author. 



Thomas 

Bailey 

Aldrich, 



i88o] Verse 263 

between verse and fiction. He has published edi- 
tions of his poems in 1863, 1865, and 1882; "Cloth 
of Gold," 1874; ''Flower and Thorn," 1876; " Mer- 
cedes and Other Lyrics," 1883; "Wyndham Towers," 
1889; "The Sisters' Tragedy," 1891. His "Ballad of 
Babie Belle" was very popular. It cannot be said 
that his later work in verse has greatly extended his 
popularity. It has, however, strengthened his hold 
upon critical readers. He is probably our best living 
master of the delicate, refined, subtle expression of 
poetical ideas in verse. His lyrics are like finely pol- 
ished gems. He has also written strong narrative 
verse. I give a sad little lyric as an example. 

PRESCIENCE 

The new moon hung in the sky, the sun was low in the west, 
And my betrothed and I in the church-yard paused to rest — 

Happy maiden and lover, dreaming the old dream over : 
The light winds wandered by, and robins chirped from the nest. 

And lo ! in the meadow-sweet was the grave of a little child, 
With a crumbling stone at the feet and the ivy running wild — 

Tangled ivy and clover folding it over and over : 
Close to my sweetheart's feet was the little mound up-piled. 

Stricken with nameless fears, she shrank and clung to me, 
And her eyes were filled with tears for a sorrow I did not see : 

Lightly the winds were blowing, softly her tears were flowing — 
Tears for the unknown years and a sorrow that was to be. 

Edmund Clarence Stedman, also born in New Edmund 
England, has spent almost all his life in New York, gtedman 
He has been actively engaged in business as a stock- ^°^" ^" ^'""'- 

necticut, 

broker ; but his heart has been in literary work and 1833. 
the literary life. Of late years, the most of his 

^ Copyright, 1884, Houghton, MifHin & Co. Boston. 



264 Period of the Later Nineteenth Centnry [1850 

time and strength has been given to critical writ- 
ing ; and in this he has done very important work. 
His poetry has quahties entirely original and strong. 
What criticism has gained by his later work, poetry 
seems to have lost ; and lovers of poetry will, per- 
haps, feel that the loss has been greater than the 
gain. He has published "Poems, Lyric and Idyllic," 
i860; ''Alice of Monmouth," 1864; ''The Blame- 
less Prince," 1869; "Hawthorne and Other Poems," 
1877; and also a collected edition of his poems. 
He has recently (1897) issued a volume called 
*' Poems Now First Collected." Lovers of good 
poetry are rejoicing that Mr. Stedman is returning, 
after twenty years of valuable critical writing, to his 
first love. "The Diamond Wedding," a satire on 
society, first attracted general attention to him. His 
"Alice of Monmouth" is the best extended poem 
called out by the Civil War. It is, indeed, one of 
our very best narrative poems. Its description of 
the " Monmouth " scenery, and especially of the 
"Cherry Orchard," is very beautiful; and there is 
a vigorous, rushing movement in the " Cavalry 
Charge" which stirs the blood. "Wanted — a 
Man ! " and " How Old Brown Took Harper's 
Ferry " are poems of unique power ; and " The 
Heart of New England" and "The Doorstep" are 
among our best poems of New England life. He 
has seen and expressed also, the poetry that lies 
hidden in business ; and in this respect " Pan in 
Wall Street" and "Israel Freyer's Bid for Gold" 
stand by themselves in our anthology. 



i88o] Verse 265 

The followiiig selection is one of the group of 
poems gathered, in his recently published volume, 
under the general title of **The Carib Sea." They 
all have to do with the scenes or the associations of 
the West India Islands and the waters which sur- 
round them. "Sargasso weed" was first observed 
by Columbus and is described in the diary of his 
famous voyage. 

SARGASSO WEED^ 

Out from the seething Stream 

To the steadfast trade-wind's courses, 
Over the bright vast swirl 

Of a tide from evil free, — 
Where the ship has a level beam. 

And the storm has spent his forces, 
And the sky is a hollow pearl 

Curved over a sapphire sea. 

Here it floats as of old. 

Beaded with gold and amber, 
Sea-frond buoyed with fruit. 

Sere as the yellow oak, 
Long since carven and scrolled, 

Of some blue-ceiled Gothic chamber 
Used to the viol and lute 

And the ancient belfry's stroke. 

Eddying far and still 

In the drift that never ceases, 
The dun Sargasso weed 

Slips from before our prow. 
And its siofht makes strong; our will. 

As of old the Genoese's, 
When he stood in his hour of need 

On the Santa Maria's bow. 

1 By permission of the Author and of the Publishers. Copyright, 
1897, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



266 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Ay, and the winds at play 

Toy with these peopled islands, 
Each of itself as well 

Naught but a brave New World, 
Where the crab and sea-slug stay 

In the lochs of its tiny highlands, 
And the nautilus moors his shell 

With his sail and streamers furled. 

Each floats ever and on 

'As the round green earth is floating 
Out through the sea of space 

Bearing our mortal kind, 
Parasites soon to be gone, 

Whom others be sure are noting. 
While to their astral race 

We in our turn are blind. 

Henry Among the saddest results of the Civil War was 

Timrod, . ^ . . 

born in the sacrince 01 precious young lives, in this respect 

South Caro- ^^ Southern States suffered proportionately more 
died, 1867. than the Northern, for the simple reason that active 
participation in the war was there more nearly uni- 
versal. Among others, three of the most promising 
poets of that generation died in comparatively early 
life, undoubtedly in consequence of the exposures 
and privations to which they were subjected, in con- 
nection with the war. William Gilmore Simms was 
the centre of a literary circle in Charleston, South 
CaroHna, and of this circle, one of the brightest orna- 
ments was Henry Timrod. He was " The Poet of 
the War," from the standpoint of the Southern 
States ; and has left some of the best verse called 
forth by the struggle. A very competent critic has 
wTitten of Timrod : " The South has probably never 
produced a poet of more delicate imagination, of 



i88o] Verse 267 

greater rhythmic sweetness, of purer sentiment, and 
more tender emotion." The Unes given below are 
from the opening part of his poem, 

THE COTTON BOLL 

While I recline 

At ease beneath 

This immemorial pine, 

Small sphere ! 

(By dusky fingers brought this morning here 

And shown with boastful smiles), 

I turn thy cloven sheaf. 

Through which the soft white fibres peer, 

That, with their gossamer .bands, 

Unite, like love, the sea-divided lands. 

And, slowly, thread by thread, 

Draw forth the folded strands. 

Than which the trembling line. 

By whose frail help yon startled spider fled 

Down the tall spear-grass from his swinging bed, 

Is scarce more fine ; 

And as the tangled skein 

Unravels in my hands. 

Betwixt me and the noonday light 

A veil seems lifted, and for miles and miles 

The landscape broadens on my sight, 

As, in the little boll, there lurked a spell 

Like that which, in the ocean shell, 

With mystic sound 

Breaks down the narrow walls that hem us round, 

And turns some city lane 

Into the restless main. 

With all its capes and isles. n 1 u 

^ Paul Ham- 

ilton Hayne, 

Timrod s works were edited and published by his born in 
friend, Paul Hamilton Hayne, also a victim of the Hna^^gso'"'" 
exposures, trials, and losses of the Civil War. Hayne died in 
lived longer and left a larger bulk of production. i886. 



268 Period of the Later Nmeteenth Centtny [1850 



Sidney 
Lanier, born 
in Georgia, 
1842; died 
in North 
Carolina, 
1881. 



His sonnets are especially beautiful, and some of 
his war songs are very strong and spirited. Prob- 
ably his best work is in the style of meditative 
communion with nature. He has left us beautiful 
lines in this vein ; and they are of special interest 
as representing so different a type of natural scenery 
from that mirrored in the work of the New England 
poets. The sonnet below well illustrates his delicate 
art and the earnest, pure character of his thought. 

FATE, OR GOD? 

Beyond the record of all eldest things, 

Beyond the rule and regions of past time, 

From out Antiquity's hoary-headed rime, 

Looms the dread phantom of a King of kings : 

Round His vast brows the glittering circlet clings 

Of a thrice royal crown ; behind Him climb 

O'er Atlantean limbs and breast sublime. 

The sombre splendors of mysterious wings ; 

Deep calms of measureless power, in awful state, 

Gird and uphold Him ; a miraculous rod. 

To heal or smite, arms His infallible hands ; 

Known in all ages, worshipped in all lands. 

Doubt names this half-embodied mystery — Fate, 

While Faith, with lowliest reverence, whispers — God.^ 

Another representative of the loss and suffering 
entailed upon the nation, and especially upon the 
Southern States, by the war of 1861-1865, is Sidney 
Lanier. He graduated from Oglethorpe College, 
Georgia ; but immediately enlisted in the Southern 
army, and served through the war, suffering from 
exposure and imprisonment, and probably thus break- 
ing down his health. His life was a pathetic struggle 

1 Copyright, 1882, the Lothrop Publishing Co. 





^^H|H^'->. 


1 




■ 


1 


1 




; 





























--J- 



i88o] Verse 269 

with disease and weakness of body, — a struggle not 
so much for health and more years of existence in 
the world, as for strength and time to utter the 
thoughts and test by experiment the principles of 
whose truth he was profoundly convinced. He 
taught school and practised law for a time ; and was 
lecturer on Literature at Johns Hopkins University, 
Baltimore. This, with a short list of his publica- 
tions, is the meagre outline of a life to whose worth 
and real interest it does scant justice. He was an 
accomplished musician, the flute being his favorite 
instrument ; this musical tendency having a great 
deal to do with his literary work. He was a student, 
with an acute, theorizing cast of mind, and worked 
out for himself an elaborate theory of poetical com- 
position ; which he has stated in his book, " The 
Science of English Verse." The essential point of the 
theory is implied in the title. Verse, in his view, is 
an art, resting upon a science which needs only inves- 
tigation to be capable of a statement as definite, 
positive, and complete as that of any other science. 

He published, in 1867, "Tiger Lilies," a prose 
romance based upon his war experiences. In 1880 
appeared the formal statement of his theories of 
versification, in " The Science of English Verse." A 
course of lectures on the '' English Novel," delivered 
at Johns Hopkins University, was published in 1883. 
Books written probably with first reference to the 
pressing financial needs of his life were the series of 
reproductions of old English legends and ballads : 
"The Boy's Froissart," 1878; "The Boy's King 



2/0 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Arthur," 1880; "The Boy's Mabinogion," 1881; ''The 
Boy's Percy," 1882. His poems appeared at various 
times, in various periodicals ; the one which first at- 
tracted general attention being *' Corn," which was 
published in " Lippincott's Magazine," Philadelphia, 
1874. This gave him recognition as the most im- 
portant poet from the South ; and as such he was 
chosen to write the words for the Cantata, with 
which the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1876, 
was opened; Whittier writing the "Hymn," and Bay- 
ard Taylor the extended poem. A collected edition 
of his poems was published after his death, in 1884, 
edited by his wife Mary D. Lanier. Lanier's theory 
of verse is at the opposite extreme from Whitman's. 
He believes that all expression in words is essentially 
musical ; the difference between speech and what is 
usually called music being that speech has far greater 
variety of tone. Hence his poems are remarkable 
for their elaborate and beautiful study of tone. No 
one has shown such mastery of the possible modula- 
tions of sound. It is not that he sacrifices thought 
to sound; but that, to an unusual degree, he seeks 
to fit thought and sound together. E. C. Stedman 
expresses the difference between Lanier and other 
poets in this particular by saying that Lanier would 
add to melody, harmony and counterpoint. There 
is a possible analogy between his theory of the rela- 
tion between thought and sound in words, and that 
of Wagner as to the relation between music and text 
in the music-drama. Not only must the thought be 
expressed in musical words, but the sound must be 



i88o] Verse 271 

held of supreme importance in the expression of the 
thought. Read the opening lines of 

THE MARSHES OF GLYNN ^ 

Glooms of the live-oaks, beautiful-braided and woven 
With intricate shades of the vines that myriad-cloven 
Clamber the forks of the multiform boughs, — 
Emerald twilights, — 
S Virginal shy lights, 

Wrought of the leaves to allure to the whisper of vows. 
When lovers pace timidly down through the green colonnades 
Of the dim sweet woods, of the dear dark woods, 
Of the heavenly woods and glades, 
10 That run to the radiant marginal sand-beach within 
The wide sea-marshes of Glynn; — 

Beautiful glooms, soft dusks in the noon-day fire, — 
Wildwood privacies, closets of lone desire, 

Chamber from chamber parted with wavering arras of 
leaves, — 
15 Cells for the passionate pleasure of prayer to the soul that 
grieves, 
Pure with a sense of the passing of saints through the wood, 
Cool for the dutiful weighing of ill with good. 

All the elements of form we have studied are 
illustrated here. The assonance is particularly deli- 
cate and beautiful in its effects. The alliteration is 
rich and musical. The rimes are varied and perfect. 
The length of line is varied, but always rhythmical. 
Notice how the vowel sounds accord with the thought 
in line 15, the close a's and ^'s giving intensity to 
the expression ; and in the closing line, where the 
double and the u seem to carry the calm coolness 
of the first word through the whole line. We will 
study, also, a short passage from 

^ Copyright, 1884, Charles Scribner's Sons. New York. 



2/2 Period of the Later N'ineteentk Century [1850 



CORN^ 

I wander to the zigzag-cornered fence 

Where sassafras, intrenched in brambles dense, 

Contests with stoUd vehemence 

The march of culture, setting limb and thorn 
5 As pikes against the army of the corn. 

Look, out of line one tall corn-captain stands 
Advanced beyond the foremost of his bands, 
And waves his blades upon the very edge 
And hottest thicket of the battling hedge. 
10 Thou lustrous stalk, that ne''er mayst walk nor talk, 
Still shalt thou type the poet-soul sublime 
That leads the vanward of his timid time 
And sings up cowards with commanding rime — 
Soul calm, like thee, yet fain, like thee, to grow 
15 By double increment, above, below ; 

Soul homely, as thou art, yet rich in grace like thee, 
Teaching the yeomen selfless chivalry 
That moves in gentle curves of courtesy ; 
Soul filled like thy long veins with sweetness tense, 
20 By every god-like sense 

Transmuted from the four wild elements. 

Drawn to high plans, 
Thou liftst more stature than a mortal man's, 
Yet ever piercest downward in the mould 
25 And keepest hold 

Upon the reverend and steadfast earth 

That gave thee birth ; 
Yea, standest smiling in thy future grave, 
Serene and brave, 
30 With unremitting breath 
Inhaling life from death, 
Thine epitaph writ fair in fruitage eloquent. 
Thyself thy monument. 

1 Copyright, 1884, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. First pub- 
lished, 1876, in " Lippincott's Magazine," Philadelphia. 



i88o] Verse 273 

One is struck at once, in reading this, with the 
originaUty of expression. It is so individual, so dif- 
ferent from the accustomed phrases, that the first 
impression is a httle puzzhng. Line 11, "Still shalt 
thou type the poet-soul," and line 13, "sings up 
cowards," illustrate this. Other examples are in 
lines 18, 19, 23. These expressions are not obscure. 
They are simply unusual, and as soon as we ha.ve 
grasped their meaning, they are felt to be the clear- 
est, as well as the strongest possible, utterance of the 
thought. Notice the use of consonant sounds : r in 
line 2 ; / in line 6 ; / in line 10, and so, in every 
line. Examples of corresponding care in the use of 
vowel sounds are in lines 18, 26, and others. The 
thought and the language are thoroughly realistic 
and American. With " Corn," which is used in the 
American sense, is associated the sassafras ; and it 
grows in a field with a zigzag fence. At the same 
time the personification is bold, and given in poetical 
language ; as, " leads the vanward of his timid time," 
line 12; "sfandest smiling in thy future grave," line 28. 

"The Symphony" is, perhaps, the most character- 
istic of Lanier's poems, its subject affording a specially 
perfect opportunity for the application of his peculiar 
theories. It is the outcry of Art, the word being 
interpreted in the highest sense, against the selfish- 
ness, vulgarity, and baseness of Trade. Each of the 
instruments in turn speaks its protest, and all blend 
in the message of music ; which in the last line is 
thus defined : 

" Music is love in search of a word." 

T 



2/4 Pei'iod of tJic Later Nhteteenth Century [1850 

It opens with the cry of the vioHns : 

" O Trade I O Trade ! would thou wert dead ! 

The Tmie needs heart — 'tis tired of head : 

We're all for love/" the violins said. 

" Of what avail the risrorous tale 
5 Of bill for coin and box for bale ? 

Grant thee. O Trade I thine uttermost hope: 

Level red gold with blue sky-slope, 

And base it deep as devils grope : 

When all's done, what hast thou won 
10 Of the only sweet that's under the sun ? 

Ay, canst thou buy a single sigh 

Of true love's least, least ecstasy?" 

Then, with a bridegroom's heart-beats trembling, 

All the mightier strings assembling, 
15 Ranged them on the violins' side 

As when the bridegroom leads the bride, 

And. heart in voice, together cried : 

" Yea. what avail the endless tale 

Of gain by cunning and plus by sale ? 
20 Look up the land, look down the land 

The poor, the poor, the poor, they stand 

Wedged by the pressing of Trade's hand 

Against an inward opening door 

That pressure tightens evermore : 
25 They sigh a monstrous foul-air sigh 

For the outside leagues of liberty. 

Where Art, sweet lark, translates the sky 

Into a heavenly melody. 

^ach day, all day' — these poor folk say — 
30 ' In the same old year long, drear-long way. 

We weave in the mills and heave in the kilns, 

We sieve mine-meshes under the hills, 

And thieve much gold from the devil's bank tills. 

To relieve, O God^i what manner of ills ? — 
35 "sThe beasts, they hunger, and eat, and die ; 

And so do we. and the world's a sty ; 

Hush, fellow-swine: why nuzzle and cry? 

Siuinehood hath no refuedy, 



i88o] Vei'se 275 

Say many men, and hasten by, 
40 Clamping the nose and blinking the eye. 

But who said once, in the lordly tone, 

Man shall not live by bread alone 

But all that cometh from the Throne ? 

Hath God said so ? 
45 But Trade saith No : 

And the kilns and the curt-tongued mills say Go : 

There'' s plenty that caji, if yon catiH : we know. 

Move out., if you think yoiCre underpaid. 

The poor are prolific ; we'' re not afraid', 
50 Trade is trade. "^ " 

We notice the same striking originality of phrase ; 
but this is more mature work, and there is scarcely 
ever here even the passing feeling of obscurity. 
Lines 7, 8, 10, are examples of the fresh, strong ex- 
pression characteristic of the whole. To the violins, 
as the leading instruments of the orchestra, is as- 
signed the outcry of complaint and question ; and 
the other instruments give the answer. We note, 
as we read these lines carefully, that the prevailing 
vowel sounds are the ^''s, ^'s, and a^. Whether 
these sounds are especially suitable to the violin, 
we would not like to say dogmatically; but accord- 
ing to Lanier's scheme they should be, and it seems 
to us they are. Notice the frequent use of rime 
within the line, as in lines 4, 9, 11, 18, 29, 30, and 
others. Notice also the beautiful use of assonance 
in line 27 and others. All these technical points 
of construction are kept well subordinated to the 
thought. With Lanier poetry was a sacred power, 
used only for the highest ends ; and here the cry of 
the violins, "All for love," wails and sings itself into 



2/6 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

our hearts through all the '' mightier strings assem- 
bling." Further on in the poem, Lanier's own in- 
strument, the flute, speaks. Notice the same char- 
acteristics in this ; but see how the prevailing i 
and e sounds are now modified by the flute like 
u and 0. 

And then, as when from words that seem but rude 

We pass to silent pain that sits abrood 

Back in our heart's great dark and solitude, 

So sank the strings to gentle throbbing 
5 Of long chords change-marked with sobbing — 

Motherly sobbing, not distinctlier heard 

Than half wing-openings of the sleeping bird, 

Some dream of danger to her young hath stirred. 
'Then stirring and demurring ceased, and lo! 
10 Every least ripple of the strings' song-flow 

Died to a level with each level bow 

And made a great chord tranquil-surfaced so, 

As a brook beneath his curving bank doth go 

To linger in the sacred dark and green 
IS Where many boughs the still pool overlean 

And many leaves make shadow with their sheen. 
But presently 

A velvet flute-note fell down pleasantly 

Upon the bosom of that harmony. 

And sailed and sailed incessantly, 
20 As if a petal from a wild rose blown 

Had fluttered down upon that pool of tone 

And boatwise dropped o' the convex side 

And floated down the glassy tide 

And clarified and glorified 
25 The solemn spaces where the shadows bide. 

• From the warm concave of that fluted note 

Somewhat, half song, half odor, forth did float, 

As if a rose might somehow be a throat : 

" When Nature from her far-ofi^ glen 
30 Flutes her soft messages to men, 



i88o] Verse 277 

The flute can say them o'er again ; 
Yea, Nature, singing sweet and lone, 
Breathes through Hfe's strident polyphone 
The flute-voice in the world of tone. 
35 Sweet friends, 

Man's love ascends 
To finer and diviner ends 
Than man's mere thought e'er comprehends. 
For I, e'en I, 
40 As here I lie, 

A petal on a harmony, 

Demand of Science whence and why 

Man's tender pain, man's inward cry. 

When he doth gaze on earth and sky ? " 1 

Lanier's early death must be regarded as one of the 
most serious losses of the kind to American Literature. 
Probably maturity of mind and longer labor would , 
have given yet greater power of expression, and 
we should have had poems from his pen which 
would have seized upon the popular fancy, as well 
as those we have, which will always delight the 
student. 

An interesting group of poets of this period may be 
associated in the mind as belonging to Pennsylvania, 
the central figure of which is that author of extraor- 
dinary versatility of talent. Bayard Taylor. Taylor Bayard 
was of Quaker extraction, but had little of the Quaker in^pe°nnsyi-^ 
spirit in his life or works. He had only a hipfh-school ^^"^^' ^^^s; 

^ . J' f died in 

education, and began life as a printer, though he was Berlin, Ger- 
writing verses for the newspapers from the time he "^^"y- -^ ^ 
was a boy of fourteen. He was associated with " The 

1 Copyright, 1884, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. First pub- 
lished, 1876, in " Lippincott's Magazine," Philadelphia. 



2/8 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post," and with the 
advance of fifty dollars from that paper, and the same 
amount from the " United States Gazette," with the 
promise that fifteen letters would be taken by "The 
New York Tribune," he set out upon his first journey 
abroad. He spent two years travelling over Europe 
afoot, supporting himself by the money he received 
from his letters, all of which amounted to only five 
hundred dollars. These letters were afterwards pub- 
lished in a volume, under the title ''Views Afoot." 
Travelling over the world and writing descriptions of 
his travels constituted an important part of Taylor's 
after life. He was at one time also connected with 
'' The New York Tribune," in charge of its literary 
department. During the Civil War he was secretary 
to the Legation at St. Petersburg, and accomplished 
important results for his country in securing the 
friendship of Russia. At the time of his death he 
was United States minister to Germany. Taylor's 
first publication was a volume of poetry called 
"Ximena," issued in 1844. ''Rhymes of Travel, 
Ballads, and Poems" appeared in 1848; and "Book 
of Romances, Lyrics, and Songs," in 185 1. "Poems 
of the Orient," 1854, contains some of his most char- 
acteristic verse. "The Picture of St: John," 1866, is a 
narrative poem, its subject being an episode in the life 
of an artist. In 1 870-1 871 appeared his translation 
of Goethe's " Faust," which is likely to remain the 
standard English version. It is written in the same 
metres as the original, and probably comes as near as 
is possible to being a reproduction. Other volumes 



1 8 So] Verse 279 

of his poetry are ''The Masque of the Gods," 1872; 
" Lars, a Pastoral of Norway," 1873 ; " The Prophet," 
a tragedy, 1874; ''The National Ode," written for 
the Centennial Exposition, 1876; and "Prince Deu- 
calion," 1878. 

His works all show great poetical talent. He has 
richness of imagery and power in the management of 
sound. When we read his poems, we always praise 
them. But, for some reason, the people have never 
generally read them. There is nothing of Taylor's 
that has caught and held the popular attention like 
one or another of the poems of Poe, or of the chief 
members of the New England group. Perhaps it 
is because he did so many things well that he has 
never done anything with just that indescribable 
quality which carries a man's writing to the heart 
of the public. The following ballad is fairly repre- 
sentative of Taylor's work, and certainly deserves to 
be a popular favorite : 

THE SONG OF THE CAMP 

" Give us a song ! " the soldiers cried, 

The outer trenches guarding, 
When the heated guns of the camps allied 

Grew weary of bombarding. 

The dark Redan, in silent scoff, 

Lay, grim and threatening, under ; 
And the tawny mound of the Malakoff 

No longer belched its thunder. 

There was a pause. A guardsman said, 

" We storm the forts to-morrow ; 
Sing while we may, another day 

Will bring enough of sorrow." 



28o Period of the Later NineteetUh Century [1850 

They lay along the battery's side, 

Below the smoking cannon : 
Brave hearts, from Severn and from Clyde, 

And from the banks of Shannon. 

They sang of love, and not of fame ; 

Forgot was Britain's glory : 
Each heart recalled a different name, 

But all sang '• Annie Laurie.'" 

Voice after voice caught up the song. 

Until its tender passion 
Rose like an anthem, rich and strong, — 

Their battle-eve confession. 

Dear girl, her name he dared not speak, 

But, as the song grew louder, 
Something upon the soldier's cheek 

Washed off the stain of powder. 

Beyond the darkening ocean burned 

The bloody sunset's embers. 
While the Crimean valleys learned 

How English love remembers. 

And once again a fire of hell 
Rained on the Russian quarters. 

With scream of shot, and burst of shell. 
And bellowing of the mortars ! 

And Irish Nora's eyes are dim 

For a singer, dumb and gory ; 
And English Mary mourns for him 

Who sang of " Annie Laurie." 

Sleep, soldiers! still in honored rest 

Your truth and valor wearing ; 
The bravest are the tenderest, — 

The loving are the daring. 

George 

Henry George Henry Boker is distinguished among 

Boker, 

1823-1890. American poets as the most successful, perhaps the 



i88o] Verse 281 

only successful, dramatist. We do not mean that, 
as poetical works, his dramas are superior to Taylor's 
or equal to Longfellow's. But they are poetical; 
and at the same time several of them, for example, 
''Calaynos" in England, and " Francesca da Rimini" 
in this country, have been produced with success 
upon the stage. Mr. Boker also published a volume 
of war poems, which are among the best of the 
poems called forth by the Civil War. 

Thomas Buchanan Read was born in Pennsylvania, Thomas 
lived in Ohio and New York and in England, and Re^d, 
died in New York. He was an artist with the brush 1822-1872. 
as well as with the pen, and was self-educated in 
both lines of his activity. His portrait of Long- 
fellow's daughters has been, as reproduced by pho- 
tography, a very popular picture. His verse is 
spirited and full of fine passages. " Sheridan's 
Ride" disputes with "Barbara Frietchie" the place 
of the most successful ballad of the war. 

Another group of verse-writers may be associated 
by the fact that a considerable part of their lives 
was spent in the western states, and their work 
shows, more or less, the influence of their surround- 
ings. 

The sisters Alice and Phoebe Gary were born in Alice Cary, 
Ohio, and lived there until they had reached mature ^ ^°~^ ^^' 
life, when they made their home in New York. They 
wrote verse which has been very popular, and some 
of which will live. It is devotional in spirit, pure and phoebe Gary, 
elevated in tone, and musical, though often showing ^ ^'^~^ ^^' 
technical faults. Phoebe Gary's hymn, ''One Sweetly 



282 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Solemn Thought," has become one of the treasured 
possessions of religious spirits in all the English- 
speaking world. 
Helen Hunt Helen Hunt Jackson (Helen Maria Fiske was her 
1831-188' maiden name) wrote beautiful verses over the signa- 
ture '' H. H." The later years of her life were spent 
in Colorado, where she became greatly interested in 
the Indian question, and wrote books dealing with 
that subject, one of which will be considered in a 
later chapter. Her verses embody true and poetic 
ideas in correct and musical lines. "The Spinner" 
is one of the better known of her pieces ; but for 
some years the columns of the papers to which 
she contributed were watched, and anything by 
*' H. H." was sure of an eager welcome. 
Edward Edward Rowland Sill was born in Connecticut and 

sii]_ died in Ohio ; but a considerable part of his short 

1841-1887. Y\i^ was spent in California, as professor of English 
Literature in the State University. He gave promise 
of taking a very high place among our poets. He 
had just begun to show of what really great work he 
was capable. The thin volume of his poems con- 
tains some of the most strikingly original verse in 
our Literature. "The Fool's Prayer" and "Oppor- 
tunity" are remarkable for the terse restrained power 
with which a great lesson is taught ; and the former 
of these is regarded by many good judges as one 
of the most remarkable poems of the last fifty 
years of American verse. 



i88o] Verse 283 



THE fool's prayer^ 

The royal feast was done ; the King 
Sought some new sport to banish care, 

And to his jester cried : " Sir Fool, 

Kneel now, and make for us a prayer ! " 

The jester doffed his cap and bells, 
And stood the mocking court before ; 

They could not see the bitter smile 
Behind the painted grin he wore. 

He bowed his head, and bent his knee 

Upon the monarch's silken stool ; 
His pleading voice arose : " O Lord, 

Be merciful to me, a fool ! 

" No pity, Lord, could change the heart 
From red with wrong to white as wool ; 

The rod must heal the sin : but Lord, 
Be merciful to me, a fool ! 

" 'Tis not by guilt the onward sweep 
Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay ; 

'Tis by our follies that so long 

We hold the earth from heaven away. 

" These clumsy feet, still in the mire, 
Go crushing blossoms without end ; 

These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust 
Among the heart-strings of a friend. 

'' The ill-timed truth we might have kept — 
Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung! 

The word we had not sense to say — 
Who knows how grandly it had rung ! 

" Our faults no tenderness should ask. 

The chastening stripes must cleanse them all 5 

But for our blunders — oh, in shame 
Before the eyes of heaven we fall. 

1 Copyright, 1888, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Boston. 



284 Period of the Later NineteeittJi Century [1850 

" Earth bears no balsam for mistakes ; 

Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool, 
That did his will ; but Thou, O Lord, 

Be merciful to me, a fool ! " 

The room was hushed ; in silence rose 
The King, and sought his gardens cool, 

And walked apart, and murmured low, 
^^ Be merciful to me, a fool." 

Epic Verse. I have not found it practicable to hold closely to 
the three great classes of poetry in the arrangement 
of the writers of this period. There are examples 
of narrative poetry which may be classed under the 
Epic ; although, as was said in the introduction, it 
lacks some of the elements we usually associate with 
the great works which bear that title. Emerson's 
verse is almost exclusively lyrical ; and so is that of 
Holmes. Longfellow wrote largely in the narrative 
style ; and we must put '' Evangeline," " Hiawatha," 
"The Courtship of Miles Standish," and "The 
Tales of a Wayside Inn " in the Epic class. So 
also with Lowell's " Legend of Brittany " and " Sir 
Launfal." It is difficult to classify "The Biglow 
Papers " by these divisions. The lyric element is 
strong in them ; and yet there is enough continuity 
of interest to suggest Epic qualities ; and there 
is some suggestion of the dramatic in the manner 
in which the characters are discriminated. I 
have spoken of Whittier's " Snowbound " as an 
Idyll, which brings it under the general class of the 
Epic. Holland's narrative poems, " Bittersweet," 
" Kathrina," and the " Mistress of the Manse " ; Al- 
drich's "Wyndham Towers" and "Sisters' Tragedy"; 



i88o] Verse 285 

Stedman's ''Alice of Monmouth" and ''The Blame- 
less Prince " ; and several of Bayard Taylor's narra- 
tive poems, such as "The Picture of St John" and 
" Lars," would also be classed here. There is abun- 
dance of the lyrical element ; but that has been suffi- 
ciently indicated as we have passed along. It remains 
to inquire whether we have any true dramatic poetry 
in this period. I have pointed out the dramatic Dramatic 

Verse 

quality of "The Golden Legend," which constitutes 
a part of the trilogy "Christus." Longfellow early 
attempted the dramatic form in " The Spanish Stu- 
dent," and he left as his last extended work the 
dramatic poem " Michael Angelo." Bayard Taylor 
wrote " Prince Deucalion, a Lyrical Drama " ; and 
George H. Boker's " Francesca da Rimini," and 
" Calaynos " have been already mentioned. 



QUESTIONS 

What were the chief incidents in the life of Walt Whit- 
man ? What were the peculiar theories which he applied 
to verse ; and what were some of the results of their applica- 
tion? What are the varying judgments of critics upon his 
writings ? What are his chief publications ? Note some of 
the peculiar characteristics of the lines from " O Vast Rondure." 
What are the especially striking phrases in " The Man-of- 
war Bird " ? What poem shows that he could effectively use 
regular metre? Give some account of the life and poetical work 
of J. G. Holland. What special point of interest is there in the 
work of Emma Lazarus? Give some account of the lives of 
Stoddard, Aldrich, and Stedman, and point out peculiar qualities 
characteristic of the authors in the selections from their poems. 
What sad result of the Civil War upon the poetry of this period? 
Give some account of the lives and writings of Timrod and 
Hayne, and point out special qualities in the selections from 



286 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850-80 

their poems. Give an outline of the life of Sidney Lanier. 
What were some of his publications other than verse? What 
is his theory of verse ? What peculiar quality distinguishes his 
poetry? Note the illustrations of this peculiar quality in the 
extract from ''The Marshes of Glynn." Point out the specially 
characteristic passages in the extract from " Corn," and in that 
from " The Symphony." Give some characteristic fact about 
each of the other writers named in this chapter. What Epic 
verse is there in the poetry of this period? What Dramatic 
verse ? 




.yhl^c^,^^ ^a^^r^^^^^r^^. 



CHAPTER XI 

Period of the Later Nineteenth Century, 

1850-1880 

NARRATIVE PROSE 

The various influences noticed in the intro- 
duction to the study of this period tended rather 
to the development of prose writing than to that of 
poetry. Our difficulty, henceforth, will be largely 
that of selection and condensation. It will be quite 
impossible, within reasonable limits, to narne all the 
writers who, by their intrinsic merit, would deserve 
mention rather than some of those whose names will 
be found in the earlier chapters. All that one can 
hope to accomplish is to make the work representa- 
tive. It is practically impossible to make it complete. 

A writer of fiction who belongs, as to most of his Fiction, 
work, to the previous period, but who is placed here 
because of his close association with Hawthorne, is 
Herman Melville. He is our best novelist of travel Herman 
and sea life ; and in one of his books has presented J^^'^'^^^t 

' ^ born m New 

us with a type of life which otherwise is not repre- York, 1819; 

1 • A • n ' 1 IT r died, 1891. 

sented m American fiction, — the life of a common 
sailor in the United States navy. " White Jacket," 
the book which presents this unique picture of life, 
is an interesting story; and is said to have been 

287 



2S8 Period of the Late?' Niiieteejith Century [1850 

influential in securing the abolition of flogging, and 

suggesting other reforms in the management of our 

naval service. " Typee " and ** Omoo " are tales of 

life in the islands of the Pacific ; and are also unique 

in American fiction. Among Melville's writings are 

"Mardi," 1849; "Moby Dick," 185 1; ''Battle Pieces 

and Aspects of the War," 1866; and " Clarel," 1876. 

He was a warm friend of Hawthorne, and the two 

writers consulted and corresponded about their 

works. 

Nathaniel Nathaniel Hawthorne was a descendant of William 

borain°^"^' Hathornc, who came from England to Massachusetts 

Salem, 'y^ 1630, and who was a typical Puritan. His son, 

Massachu- 
setts, 1804; John Hathorne, was prominent in Salem during the 

'^ ' ^ ^' witchcraft excitement, and as judge condemned some 
of the unhappy victims to death. There is a legend 
that one of these victims cursed his judge before he 
went to his death ; a legend that naturally suggested 
the similar incident in " The House of the Seven 
Gables." 

Hawthorne was a delicate child ; and a serious 
injury kept him from school for two years, during 
which enforced retirement he studied privately with 
Dr. J. E. Worcester, the famous dictionary-maker. 
This confinement doubtless strengthened his natural 
disposition to shyness of manner. It also led to a 
good deal of reading and brooding over what he 
read. Three books had a strong influence in form- 
ing his literary style. They are Spenser's *' Faerie 
Queene," Bunyan's ''Pilgrim's Progress," and "The 
Newgate Calendar." The delicate fancy, the pro- 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction. Hawthorne 289 

found interest in religious and moral questions, and 
the strong tendency to study the morbid aspects 
of character, or the working of crime and sin in 
human nature, are certainly three prominent char- 
acteristics of his work ; and they can be clearly 
traced to these sources in his early reading, A part 
of his boyhood was spent at Raymond, on Sebago 
Lake, in Maine, in a wild, thinly settled country ; but 
he returned to Salem to prepare for college. In 1821 
he entered Bowdoin, where Longfellow and Horatio 
Bridge were among his classmates, and where his 
most intimate friend — a friendship which endured 
through life — was Franklin Pierce, afterwards Presi- 
dent of the United States. Bridge was always a 
friend and adviser in literary work ; and Longfellow 
wrote the first appreciative review of Hawthorne's 
writings. We have already noticed their mutual 
relation to " Evangeline." After graduating from 
college, Hawthorne returned to Salem. Having a 
little property, he was not compelled at once to enter 
upon professional life. He felt that his vocation 
was Literature ; but he was long in securing the ear 
of the public. " Fanshawe," a romance, was pub- 
lished in 1828, but its success was slight, and Haw- 
thorne did not feel encouraged by it. He did some 
literary hack work for " Peter Parley " (S. G. Good- 
rich) for which his remuneration was not large. 
Some of his stories and sketches appeared in the 
''Token," one of the "Annuals" referred to in the 
chapter introductory to this period. Hawthorne tells 
us that he spent a large part of this time writing stories 



290 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

in the daytime and burning them at night. Some of 
the Tales in the "Token" attracted the attention 
of a family of accomplished ladies in Salem, and led 
to Hawthorne's acquaintance with them. One of 
these ladies, Miss Sophia Peabody, afterwards be- 
" Twice-told came his wife. In 1836 the first series of "Twice- 
told Tales" was published, Hawthorne's friend, 
Horatio Bridge, assuming the pecuniary risk ; and 
this was moderately successful, some six thousand 
copies being sold. He held the position of weigher 
and gauger in the Boston custom-house, while George 
Bancroft was collector of the port ; but when the 
Whigs came into power in 1 841, he was turned out 
of office, and this led to his brief connection with 
the Brook Farm community. The year 1841 saw 
"Grand- the publication of "Grandfather's Chair" and 
Chair," 1841. " Famous Old People," stories of old New England 
history, told for children ; and in 1843 appeared 
"The Liberty Tree," with "Last Words of Grand- 
father's Chair," " Biographical Stories for Chil- 
dren," and an enlarged edition of the " Twice- 
told Tales." Meanwhile he was married and went 
to Concord, to live in the " Old Manse," where 
Emerson had been born and where " Nature " had 
been, written. Some years of ideally happy life 
followed, the literary fruit of which is found in 
"Mosses "Mosses from an Old Manse," which appeared 
Old Manse," ii^ 1 846. Hawthornc was now recognized as a 
1846. writer of original genius ; but the pecuniary re- 

turns from his work were still small, and he was 
glad to accept an appointment to the post of sur- 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction. Hazvthorne 291 

veyor in the Salem custom-house. We should be 
grateful to the Democratic party of that day for 
thus caring for the necessities of genius, especially 
as the three years of his stay in Salem resulted in . 
the production of his masterpiece, and what is prob- 
ably, all things considered, the greatest work of 
imaginative prose in American Literature. Haw- 
thorne published "The Scarlet Letter," with slight "The Scarlet 
hope as to its popular success, feeling that the rather ^"^^' ^ ^°' 
gloomy tone of the book might be a hindrance. 
To James T. Fields is due the credit of perceiving 
its singular power and beauty, and insisting upon its 
publication. It was one of the instant and great 
successes of our literary history, the first edition, of 
five thousand copies, selling within two weeks. '* The 
Scarlet Letter" appeared in 1850. The summer of 
that year, Hawthorne went to live at Lenox, Berk- 
shire County, Massachusetts ; and here followed a 
busy time. The year 1851 saw the publication of 
"The Wonder Book," a delightful collection of clas- 
sical myths told for modern children ; "True Stories " ; 
" The Snow Image and Other Twice-told Tales" ; and 
"The House of the Seven Gables," which Hawthorne "The House 
himself considered the best of his books. In the Gabies^" 
autumn of that year, he removed to West Newton, ^^5^" 
near Boston, and there wrote "The Blithedale "The 
Romance," which, although he disclaims any specific Romance," 
detailed connection between its characters and inci- ^^52. 
dents and those of Brook Farm, is yet plainly a re- 
flection of that experience of his life. In 1852 he 
returned to Concord and made his home at "The 



292 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Wayside." This was the year of the presidential 
election when his friend Franklin Pierce was chosen 
President; and Hawthorne, who was always a loyal 
friend, wrote the campaign life of the candidate. 
"Tanglewood Tales," a second series of ''The Won- 
der Book," was written in the following winter, and 
the next spring, Hawthorne sailed for Liverpool, 
having been appointed to the Consulate by President 
Pierce. To the years of life abroad to which this ap- 
"TheMarbie pointment led, we owe "The Marble Faun," in some 
respects the most finished and powerful of his works, 
and '' Our Old Home," a collection of sketches of 
English scenes and experiences. He again illustrated 
the loyalty of his friendship by insisting upon dedi- 
cating this book to Ex-President Pierce, who in the 
swift movement of events and in the near approach 
of the war had become intensely unpopular. Haw- 
thorne's publishers thought the dedication would 
injure the sale of the book; but the author insisted 
that it was the only suitable dedication, and would 
not withdraw it. It was in the companionship of 
this same tried and true friend, his last hours soothed 
and comforted by his kindly helpfulness, that Haw- 
thorne died ; and it suggests interesting reflections as 
to the comparative value of different sorts of success, 
that one who for four years held the highest place 
of political preferment in his country's gift probably 
has his best assurance of enduring remembrance in 
the fact that he was the novelist's friend. The un- 
published papers of few authors have been so freely 
given to the world as have those of Hawthorne. 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction. Hawthorne 293 

Ideas for romances dealing with the fancy of an elixir 
of life, and with the legend of an ancestral footstep, 
had been floating in his mind for years ; and had 
taken several tentative forms. He seems to have at 
last settled upon the final form in which he wished 
to develop these ideas, in " The Dolliver Romance," 
the opening chapter of which was published in the 
"Atlantic Monthly," the year of his death. More 
or less complete sketches of stories dealing with 
these ideas were found among his papers, and were 
published; " Septimius Felton," in 1871, and ''Dr. 
Grimshawe's Secret," in 1883. It seems a pity that 
the artistic completeness of Hawthorne's work should 
be marred by the inclusion of these unfinished 
stories. He kept full and interesting memoranda, at 
different periods of his life, and from these there have 
been published, " Passages from American Note- 
Books," 1868 ; ''Passages from English Note-Books," 
1870; and "Passages from French and Italian Note- 
Books," 1 87 1. For a man who was extremely shy, 
who shrank from publicity with extraordinary mod- 
esty, and who, it is understood, expressly forbade the 
writing of any biography, Hawthorne's desk and 
closet have been thrown open to the public with 
extraordinary frankness. The result is in many 
respects delightful. The man's absolute purity and 
innate refinement and magnanimity make all such 
revelations helpful and inspiring to the reader. It 
is of intense interest, also, to look into the literary 
workshop of a great genius, as, by these posthumous 
publications, one is enabled to do, 



294 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

The ethical motive is very strong in Hawthorne's 
work. His four great romances are all studies of 
sin in various aspects. In "The Scarlet Letter," the 
different effects of confessed and hidden guilt are 
contrasted. The suffering of the woman, with her 
guilt proclaimed to the world, and wearing the badge 
of her shame upon her bosom and seeing it con- 
stantly before her in the form of her innocent child, 
is less than that of the man, honored by the world 
as the ideal of holiness, but carrying the same 
red badge of shame burned in upon his heart. In 
" The House of the Seven Gables," the weight 
of an inheritance of ill-gotten gain rests upon a 
family in all its generations ; and the corrupting 
influence of greed for gold and power is awfully 
portrayed in the leading character of the book. 
The moral lesson of " The Blithedale Romance " 
is not so clear. The danger, that is, the moral dan- 
ger, of an unregulated enthusiasm may be taken to 
be the underlying thought. The reformer is almost 
inevitably an egotist. A powerful personality, like 
that of Hollingsworth, draws other personalities 
within the sweep of its influence. Though seeking 
unselfish and noble aims, there is danger that such 
a personality may work ruin to minds and souls who 
yield to his influence without really entering into his 
plans. And there is danger, too, that his absorption 
in his great purposes, accompanied by disregard for 
the precious and fragile spirits with whom he is 
brought into touch, may develop a self-absorption 
scarcely distinguishable from the coarsest selfishness. 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction. Hawthorne 295 

**The Marble Faun" discusses the problem, always 
fascinating and baffling to those who believe in a 
personal God, of the origin and ultimate meaning of 
moral evil. The suggested interpretation of it as a 
means toward higher development of character than 
could be possible in a state of innocence, is not pecul- 
iar to Hawthorne. The mode in which it is sug- 
gested, however, by the contrast and comparison of 
the faun-like Donatello with the complex nature of 
Miriam, and by the effect upon them both of their 
community in crime, is thoroughly original. Modern 
thinking along evolutionary lines has greatly strength- 
ened Hawthorne's view ; and it is interesting to spec- 
ulate how that subtle intellect and delicate fancy 
would have used the suggestions sure to have 
reached him from the scientific thought of the last 
thirty years. 

Hawthorne's use of the English language is by all 
critics conceded to be masterly. There is a delicate 
charm in the words and sentences very difficult, if 
not impossible, to analyze. There is a satisfied feel- 
ing as we read that the word is the best possible 
word, and the form of sentence the most perfectly 
suited to the thought. But there are none of the 
tricks of style which characterize some great writers, 
such as Carlyle and Ruskin. Take, for example, a 
short passage from " The Scarlet Letter," Chap- 
ter XV, and note some of the characteristics of 
the style. 

Pearl, whose activity of spirit never flagged, had been at 
no loss for amusement while her mother talked with the old 



296 Period of tJie Later NineteeJtth Centiny [1850 

gatherer of herbs. At first, as already told, she had flirted 
fancifully with her own image in a pool of water, beckoning 
the phantom forth, and — as it declined to venture — seek- 
ing a passage for herself into its sphere of impalpable earth 
and unattainable sky. Soon finding, however, that either 
she or the image was unreal, she turned elsewhere for better 
pastime. She made little boats out of birch-bark, and 
freighted them with snail-shells, and sent out more ventures 
on the mighty deep than any merchant in New England ; 
but the larger part of them foundered near the shore. She 
seized a live horseshoe by the tail, and made prize of several 
five fingers, and laid out a jelly-fish to melt in the warm 
sun. Then she took up the white foam, that streaked the 
line of the advancing tide, and threw it upon the breeze, 
scampering after it, with winged footsteps, to catch the great 
snowflakes ere they fell. Perceiving a flock of beach-birds 
that fed and fluttered along the shore, the naughty child 
picked up her apron full of pebbles, and, creeping from rock 
to rock after these small sea-fowl, displayed remarkable 
dexterity in pelting them. One little gray bird, with a white 
breast. Pearl was almost sure, had been hit by a pebble, and 
fluttered away with a broken wing. But then the elf-child 
sighed, and gave up her sport ; because it grieved her to 
have done harm to a little being that was as wild as the sea- 
breeze, or as wild as Pearl herself. 

Her final employment was to gather sea-weed of various 
kinds, and make herself a scarf or mantle, and a head-dress, 
and thus assume the aspect of a little mermaid. She inherited 
her mother's gift for devising drapery and costume. As the 
last touch to her mermaid's garb. Pearl took some eel-grass, 
and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the deco- 
ration with which she was so familiar on her mother's. A 
letter, — the letter A, — but freshly green, instead of scarlet ! 
The child bent her chin upon her breast, and contemplated 
this device with strange interest; even as if the one only thing 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fictioji. Hawthorne 297 

for which she had been sent into the world was to make out 
its hidden import. 

It is difficult to imagine how more incidents that 
reveal character could have been crowded into two 
short paragraphs. Self-consciousness, in watching 
her image in the pool ; vigorous fancy, in the little 
birch-bark boats ; running to the extreme of weird- 
ness in her flinging up the foam, and trying to 
catch it ; recklessness of pain to others in her pelting 
the birds ; and the inconsistent regret, when she 
found that she had wounded one; and at last the 
perverse ingenuity of fancy, which makes her wring 
the mother's heart by copying the scarlet letter. 
Now the notable point, as to style, is the condensed 
force with which all this is put before us. It is a 
marvellously clear and strong picture in words, 
where every word tells, and there is not a word too 
much. Notice the adjectives, "impalpable" earth, 
and ** unattainable " sky, and see how much they 
suggest. Notice the delicate humor in the use of the 
trite phrase " mighty deep." See how the common- 
place is combined with the romantic in the words 
" scampering after it with winged footsteps " ; and so 
the curiously complex character of the child sug- 
gested. Transparently clear the style is all the way 
through. The sentences are varied in length, but 
never very long. There is not a periodic sentence in 
the selection. Clearness is the most prominent char- 
acteristic ; and yet there is a subtle suggestiveness 
in the words employed, which makes every sentence 



298 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



Harriet 
Beecher 
Stowe, born 
in Connec- 
ticut, 1812; 
died, 1896. 



like the vision Pearl saw in the pool : " a picture of 
an impalpable earth and an unattainable sky." 

Hawthorne's life and work seem outside of the ac- 
tive currents of his time. He looked on at the tumult- 
uous religious and political movements of the period 
as one who had no real mission in connection with 
them, his thoughts going backward and forward into 
the eternities. A true daughter of the time in which 
she lived, on the other hand, was Harriet Beecher 
Stowe. While she was still a child, the family moved 
from Connecticut to Cincinnati, Ohio, where her 
father, Dr. Lyman Beecher, was pastor of a Presby- 
terian church and president of Lane Theological Semi- 
nary. Here Harriet was associated with her sister 
Catherine in teaching, and compiled a school geog- 
raphy, which was extensively used. In 1836 she 
married Professor Calvin E. Stowe. While living in 
Cincinnati she was necessarily brought into close 
contact with slavery, which existed then in the neigh- 
boring state of Kentucky. The Ohio River being 
the boundarv line between slave and free soil, she 
not unfrequently saw fugitives from slavery, and 
sometimes helped them on their way to Canada. In 
this way her theoretical interest in the question of 
slavery was made practical. In 1843 ''The May- 
flower," a volume of sketches of descendants of the 
Pilgrims, was published. In 1850 Professor Stowe 
accepted a position in Bowdoin College at Bruns- 
wick, Maine ; and this was their home for several 
years. Mrs. Stowe's feelings on the subject of slav- 
ery had been wrought up to great intensity by her 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction. Mrs. Stowe 299 

observation of the workings of the " Fugitive Slave 
Law," which went into effect during the latter part 
of her residence in Ohio. Out of much brooding 
over this subject, and from a fiery conviction that 
the people of the Northern States ought to know 
the facts as to slavery, was born the book which 
has probably had the widest influence of all works 
of fiction. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published "Uncie 
first in the " National Era," an antislavery weekly cabin," 1852 
paper issued in Washington, D.C. The story 
attracted wide attention as it came out from week 
to week ; and when it was published in book form, 
in 1852, its popularity was unprecedented. A half 
million of copies were sold within five years. Ver- 
sions of the book in more than eighteen different 
languages have been collected. After more than 
forty years it is still a widely selling and widely read 
book. If such results are achieved without real liter- 
ary art, as has sometimes been said, the fact would 
suggest some curious reflections about the value and 
meaning of art. While the book shows in passages 
the signs of hasty composition, and consequent 
crudeness, it has in abundance the great qualities 
of narrative and descriptive writing. It is a clear, 
vivid, strong story, from beginning to end. Some 
of its episodes, as Eliza's escape and the flight of 
the fugitives in Ohio, are among the best pieces of 
condensed, strong narration in the language. It 
has three immortal characters, — Uncle Tom, Topsy, 
and Miss Ophelia; and the minor characters — Mr. 
Shelby, St. Clair, Eliza Harris, and little Eva — are 



300 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

far from being the juiceless lay figures of Cooper's 
stories. A characteristic of the book to which jus- 
tice has scarcely been done, is its moderation. Con- 
sidered as an avowed purpose novel, frankly written 
to arouse the people of America to appreciate the 
evils of slavery, this is remarkable. No defender of 
the institution ever described its gentler forms as 
perfectly as did Mrs. Stowe in her picture of the 
Shelby farm in Kentucky, and the St. Clair house- 
hold in New Orleans ; and that such incidents as the 
death of Tom, and that such characters as the trader 
and Legree did exist, no one has ventured to deny. 
Had Mrs. Stowe represented them as frequent or 
common, she might have been accused of injustice. 
But she has carefully portrayed them as the ex- 
treme results of an evil system. 

The fame and pecuniary returns of this great suc- 
cess led to an interesting journey abroad, some of the 
incidents and impressions of which were recorded in 
" Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands," published in 
1854. About this time Professor Stowe removed to 
Andover, Massachusetts, and for ten years this was 
their home. In 1856 " Dred " — sometimes pub- 
lished under the title, *' Nina Gordon" — was writ- 
ten. It attempted a repetition of '' Uncle Tom " ; 
but must be set down as a failure, like most repe- 
titions. In 1859 she published what will probably 
stand as the most finished and artistic production 
of her pen, " The Minister's Wooing." It is a story 
of the time immediately after the Revolution ; the 
scene is laid in Newport, Rhode Island, and the lead- 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction. Mrs. Jackson 301 

ing character is the great theologian of the doc- 
trine of unselfishness, Dr. Samuel Hopkins. In 
1864 Mrs. Stowe's home was moved to Hartford, 
Connecticut ; and for the rest of her life she divided 
her time between that pleasant city and a winter 
residence in Florida. I will not attempt a complete 
list of her publications, which were very numerous. 
The most important novels are *' The Pearl of Orr's 
Island " and '' Agnes of Sorrento," both of which 
appeared in 1862. But probably beside "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin " and ''The Minister's Wooing " will be 
placed by posterity " Oldtown Folks," which was pub- 
lished in 1869. It is slight, considered as a story, 
but as a character study, her strongest work, and one 
of the strongest in our Literature. Sam Lawson 
takes his place beside Miss Ophelia as one of the 
supremely good reproductions in Literature of the 
old-fashioned Yankee. Mrs. Stowe was a volumi- 
nous and acceptable contributor to the periodical 
Literature of the time, and published a volume of 
religious poems of a sweet devotional character. 

Comparable, in its effect, to ''Uncle Tom's Cabin" "H. h." 
is " Ramona," by Helen Hunt Jackson, which ap- "Ramona, 
peared in 1884. "Ramona" was an outcome of the 
Western movement of population, and the contact 
with the Indian tribes thus occasioned. Mrs. Jack- 
son's spirit was moved by the wrongs the Indian 
suffered from the white man, as Mrs. Stowe had 
been moved by slavery ; and she, too, put her whole 
soul into her book. It was eloquently written ; and 
it moved the conscience of the people on the subject. 



w 



302 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



Oliver 
Wendell 
Holmes, 
" Elsie 
Venner," 
1 861. 



John Esten 

Cooke, 

1830-1886. 



It may fairly be reckoned as having contributed 
largely to the partial solution of the Indian prob- 
lem which the last twenty years have brought about. 

Dr. Holmes' versatility of talent is displayed in the 
three excellent novels which he published. " Elsie 
Venner," 1861, first appeared as *'The Professor's 
Story," in the "Atlantic Monthly." Six years later, 
1867, "The Guardian Angel" was published; and 
in 1885 the freshness of his young spirit, at the age 
of seventy-six, bubbled over in his latest novel, " A 
Mortal Antipathy." The "Doctor" appears in these 
books more plainly than in any other of his non-pro- 
fessional writings. They are all illustrations of his 
theories as to inherited tendencies. Witty, humorous, 
and full of wise suggestion they are, of course. But 
the characterization is too much weighted with the 
theory to be perfectly convincing. 

Particularly associated with the Civil War, are, on 
the Southern side, John Esten Cooke, and on the 
Northern, Theodore Winthrop. Mr. Cooke pub- 
lished a large number of romances of Southern life. 
He himself felt that his work lacked reality, and 
acknowledged that the newer school of writers had 
rightly crowded him from the field. Perhaps the yet 
more recent revival of romanticism may bring his 
books again into vogue. His work, like that of 
Simms, has an enduring value as illustrative of the 
social conditions among which he lived. Some of his 
stories are " Leather Stocking and Silk," " The Vir- 
ginia Comedians," "Surrey of Eagle's Nest," "Fair- 
fax," "Hilt to Hilt." One of his latest publications 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction 303 

was " My Lady Pocahontas," in which the famous 
old Virginia romance was gracefully worked over. 

Theodore Winthrop was killed in one of the ear- Theodore 
liest battles of the war. He had written several 1828-1861! 
sketches of American life, which gave promise of 
brilliant work to follow. '' Cecil Dreeme," *' Edwin 
Brothertoft," and "John Brent" are the titles of his 
published novels. 

William Mumford Baker was a Presbyterian minis- William 
ter in Texas, who, during the progress of the war, wrote Baker^'^ 
"Inside, a Chronicle of Secession," in some respects 1825-1883. 
one of the most interesting productions of the period. 
" His Majesty Myself " was published anonymously, 
and attracted favorable attention as a strong charac- 
ter study. Mr. Baker had imaginative power, and 
his conceptions of character are vigorous and origi- 
nal. His stories are clumsily constructed, however, 
and his style is often obscure. Among his later 
works are "The New Timothy" ; " Mose Evans," a 
story of the " Reconstruction " period; and "Carter 
Quarterman." 

Bayard Taylor's great versatility of talent has Bayard 
been mentioned. He displayed it, among other ^^°^' 
ways, by publishing three of the best novels of the 
period. "John Godfrey's Fortunes," 1864, is a leaf 
out of his own experience. " Hannah Thurston," 
1863, and "The Story of Kennet," 1866, are pictures 
of life and manners in Pennsylvania. They are of 
particular interest as presenting a type of life not 
nearly so well represented in fiction as those of New 
England and New York. 



304 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



Josiah 
Gilbert 
Holland. 



Edward 
Everett 
Hale, 
born 1822. 



Hjalmar 

Hjorth 

Boyesen, 



l-il 



Constance 
Fenimore 
Woolson, 
18^8-1804. 



Dr. Josiah Gilbert Holland published a number of 
stories which had a wide sale, and stand on about the 
same literary plane as his poetry. "Arthur Bonni- 
castle," ''Seven Oaks," and "Nicholas Minturn " 
are the names of some of the better known of his 
novels. 

Edward Everett Hale, in connection with his multi- 
farious labors as preacher, journalist, and general 
instructor of the people, has had time to write some 
of the best stories of the period. Three of them, at 
least, are likely to remain as permanent additions to 
Literature. "The Man Without a Country" was 
one of the strongest influences for stimulating patri- 
otism in the time of the Civil War, when patriotism 
was most needed, and is a profoundly pathetic story. 
"In His Name" and "Ten Times One Is Ten" are 
two others of his better known tales. 

Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, as the form of his name 
would indicate, was a Norwegian. He had acquired, 
however, a fine mastery of the English language. 
" Gunnar," published in 1874, is a romance of Nor- 
wegian life, of very delicate beauty. He, in later 
years, wrote a number of powerful realistic sketches, 
dealing with life among the Scandinavian emigrants 
to this country. He was professor of Germanic 
Literatures at Columbia College, and published, be- 
sides his works of fiction, a large number of his- 
torical and critical writings. 

Constance Fenimore Woolson is one of the best 
of our later writers of fiction. She wrote power- 
ful realistic stories, mainly of life in the Southern 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction 305 

States since the war. " Castle Nowhere," '' Rod- 
man the Keeper," "Anne," "For the Major," "East 
Angels," "Jupiter Lights," "Horace Chase," are 
some of the titles. 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich has carried into the Thomas 
writing of fiction the same delicate finish of style Aidrich. 
which characterizes his verse. He has published 
three strong novels: "Prudence Palfrey," "The 
Stillwater Tragedy," and "The Queen of Sheba " ; 
besides one of the most popular of juveniles, " The 
Story of a Bad Boy," and some volumes of short 
stories. 

John Townsend Trowbridge is an older man and John Towns- 
writer than many of those discussed in this period ; bridge^°^' 
but he belongs to the present. He is very difficult ^^^^ ^^^7. 
to classify. Probably his most important literary 
work has been as a writer of stories for boys. He 
has also published a good deal of very good verse. 
" Neighbor Jackwood " has been called the pioneer 
novel of New England life ; but this judgment 
leaves out of account Miss Sedgwick's work. Trow- 
bridge has published a large number of stories, 
some of the war times and some of earlier days. 
He knows the heart of a boy ; and his work is 
always wholesome. 

A pioneer, in the realistic local novel, was Edward Edward 
Eggleston. He placed his stories in the great cen- bom^Jsqy' 
tral states of Indiana and Illinois, in their pioneer 
days. "The Hoosier Schoolmaster" came to the 
reading public, in 1871, as a fresh sensation. The 
characters were racy and individual, the dialect was 

X 



3o6 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

characteristic but not unintelligible, and the phase 
of life presented was not so far removed from that 
familiar to most readers as were the scenes and char- 
acters portrayed by Cable and by Miss Murfree, and 
yet had a very interesting quality of its own. *'The 
End of the World," set in the same region, dealt with 
the great excitement caused by the '' Millerite " de- 
lusion that the world was immediately to be destroyed. 
In "The Graysons," the early career of Abraham 
Lincoln is effectively introduced. A later essay in 
fiction is a story of life in New York City, called 
"The Faith Doctor." He has, of late years, devoted 
himself to minute historical studies in the early years 
of American History. 
Louisa May Among the great multitude of writers of Juvenile 
18^2-1888 Literature, I select for special mention here Louisa 
May Alcott, as on the whole the best representative 
of the tendencies of this form of Literature. She 
was the daughter of A. B. Alcott, and the home at 
Concord owed everything to her busy pen. " Little 
Women," which appeared in two series in 1868 and 
1869, took the hearts of American girls by storm; 
and was followed by "An Old-fashioned Girl," 
"Little Men," "Jo's Boys," and other books which 
have been only less widely read. What especially 
distinguishes these books, and others of the later 
period, from those of Jacob Abbot, is the effort to 
portray child character, entering in many cases into 
careful, moral, and religious analysis. In Miss 
Alcott' s books this is done with ability, and the 
character is very distinct and clearly drawn. It is a 



i88o] Narrative Prose. Fiction 307 

question, however, whether the earlier, simpler type 
of book may not have been quite as wholesome read- 
ing for immature minds. 

We notice a marked change in the fiction of this 
period, as compared with that of the previous one. 
The two great names are distinguished, the one for 
subtle thought on great moral and metaphysical 
problems, the other for intense interest in the great 
social questions of the day. There is nothing like 
this in Cooper or his contemporaries. The mastery 
of the means of expression is far greater. Haw- 
thorne's English is, of course, incomparable ; but the 
minor writers of the period excel, in this respect, the 
best of the earlier time. The tendency toward 
'' Realism " is marked ; although it has not yet 
reached its full height. Incident is more probable ; 
character is more like the character we know ; and 
both are portrayed with greater clearness, simplicity, 
and force than by the earlier writers. As the Ameri- 
can poetry of our first century reached its culmina- 
tion in the New England poets, so American fiction 
reached its culmination in Hawthorne. In the follow- 
ing period we shall find the average writing of a 
higher quality than the average of this, but no such 
transcendent genius as the author of " The Scarlet 
Letter." 

Richard Hildreth, an active and influential journal- History, 
ist and political writer, published, in the years 1849- Richard 
1852, a valuable ''History of the United States." "07-1865 
While this work never attained the general reputation 
that was gained by Bancroft's History, and has not 



3o8 Period of the Later NineteentJi Century [1850 



John Gor- 
ham Palfrey, 
1796-188 I. 



James 
Parton, 

l822-l8( 



Ulysses 
Simpson 
Grant, 
1822-188= 



the fascinating style of Prescott, it will always be a 
standard for the study of the period of which it 
treats. 

John Gorham Palfrey was at one time a leader in 
the antislavery movement ; it was in advocacy of his 
election to office that Emerson once made political 
speeches. But the chief interest of his life was in his- 
torical studies; and the "History of New England," 
issued at irregular intervals from 1880 to 1890, is the 
chief monument of his labors. It is a great treasure- 
house of historical materials ; and will doubtless be 
the source of many slighter and more readable works. 

One of the most popular writers of this time was 
James Parton. He had an admirable style. His 
work is always interesting. He is clear, forcible, and 
often elegant in his language. He wrote biogra- 
phies of many of our famous public men, and of 
Voltaire. The latter is the work on which he appar- 
ently bestowed the greatest labor ; and it shows the 
strongest qualities of excellence. 

Many of the leading actors in the great events of 
the Civil War, and the political movements connected 
with it, wrote memoirs of their lives, which had wide 
reading, and are invaluable sources for the future 
historian. Among these, the " Personal Memoirs of 
U. S. Grant" has become a part of our Literature. 
It has the concise fulness, the direct movement, 
the suppression of irrelevant details, and the com- 
plete, vivid portrayal of what is essential, that consti- 
tute strong narrative writing. Combined with these 
are a clear unbiassed judgment of men and events and 



i88o] Narrative Prose. History and Biography 309 

a dry humor that give great charm to the book. 
High authorities have said that it will take its place, 
in the libraries of the future, beside Caesar's 
*' Commentaries." But to be sure of that, we would 
need to see a thousand years ahead. What we know 
now is that it is a very interesting book, and one that 
every American boy ought to read. 

We have two historical writers in this period, whom 
we may place beside Bancroft and Prescott, as among 
the great historians in the EngUsh Language. 

John Lothrop Motley was graduated from Harvard John 
College in 1831, and pursued further studies at the M°otiey!^born 
universities of Berlin and Gottine^en. At the latter mMassachu- 

° setts, 1814; 

university a fellow-student and comrade was the died in Eng- 
famous Bismarck, who remained his intimate friend ^" ' ^ ''^' 
through life. Motley made two not very successful 
efforts at novel writing, and had a rather discouraging 
experience in the Massachusetts legislature, before he 
finally decided to devote himself to historical study 
and writing. He selected as his special field the 
history of Holland ; and realizing that he was thus 
coming very near to Prescott's domain, he visited 
him, and they talked the matter over in the friend- 
liest manner. The result is that while their work 
is to some extent complementary, they approach 
the contest between Spain and Holland from dif- 
ferent points of view; and Prescott's works become 
an indispensable preparation for the full appreciation 
of Motley's, while the writings of the latter give us 
just the completion of Prescott's story that we desire. 
Motley devoted ten years of study to the preparation 



3IO Period of the Later Nineteenth Ce7itury [1850 
"Rise of the of his '' Historv of the Rise of the Dutch RepubHc." 

Dutch . 

Republic," It IS one of the remarkable incidents in the history of 
^^56. Literature that he found considerable difficulty in 

securing an English publisher, Murray declining it, 
and the work being issued in 1856, at the author's 
expense, by John Chapman. It was triumphantly 
successful with the general public, and was wel- 
comed by historians and critics in America and 
Europe as a standard work in its field. 
"History of In 1860 he published two volumes of the " History 
NetheT-^ of the United Netherlands," which fully sustained 

lands," 1860- the reputation gained by the " Dutch Republic." 
1868. 

Then followed the stormy time of the Civil War. 

President Lincoln appointed Motley United States 
minister to Austria; and he held the office till 1867, 
when he resigned. In the meantime, although active 
in his official duties, he had continued his historical 
studies; and in 1868 published the two concluding 
volumes of the " History of the United Netherlands." 
President Grant appointed him to the English Mission; 
and one of the yet unexplained mysteries of politics is 
"John of his recall in 1870. The " Life and Death of John of 
18^4!^^^ ' Barneveldt " appeared in 1874. It was a biographi- 
cal study intended to be introductory to the '' History 
of the Thirty Years' War," which was to be the 
crowning work of Motley's career. But his health 
was now permanently shattered, and in 1877 he died 
at the home of his daughter Lady Harcourt, near 
Dorchester, England ; a rather singular coincidence, 
as his birthplace was Dorchester, then a suburb of 
Boston. 



i88o] Narrative Prose. History and Biography 311 

Motley's histories are accurate and trustworthy, 
but not strictly impartial. His strong sympathy with 
the Dutch as against the Spanish, and with the 
Protestants as against the Romanists, is never dis- 
guised. But the history is nevertheless perfectly 
fair. His sympathy does not betray him into mis- 
representation. He does not attempt the work of a 
cool, unimpassioned judge. He is a generous, fair- 
minded advocate. This gives his work a peculiar 
warmth of interest. His pictorial power is remarka- 
ble. The leading characters are vividly described ; 
and many passages of his histories are more fascinat- 
ing than some romances. 

Francis Parkman led a much less eventful life. Francis 
He was also graduated from Harvard, in 1844; born in 
studied law but did not practise lons^ ; spent some Massachu- 
years in exploring the Northwest, thus permanently died, 1893. 
destroying his health, but obtaining in the process 
much of the material for his life-work. He devoted 
himself to the study of the rise, progress, and fall of 
the French power in North America. It is a fasci- 
nating field of study, supplying, in the adventures of 
the explorers and missionaries, some of the greatest 
instances of self-sacrificing courage on record ; and 
dealing with the contest between Teutonic and Latin 
ideas, on whose decision the fate of the continent 
depended. In pursuit of his studies he spent some 
time in France ; but otherwise his life was quiet, and 
without incidents of interest. He first published an 
account of his travels in the Northwest, calling the 
book *' The California and Oregon Trail." This 



312 Period of the Later NineteeiitJi Century [1850 

appeared in 1849. His historical works were pub- 
lished at varying intervals, during the rest of his life. 
**The History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac," 185 1, 
was the first ; and '' A Half-Century of Conflict," 
1893, the last. They take up different aspects and 
episodes of the long story ; as, " Pioneers of France 
in the New World," 1865, ''The Jesuits in North 
America," 1867, "Montcalm and Wolfe," 1884, and 
others. Each work is complete in itself, and to- 
gether they form a complete account of a phase of 
history not generally familiar, but exceedingly im- 
portant, and abounding in the most picturesque and 
exciting incidents. Parkman's style is the per- 
fection of historical narrative. He is more impartial 
than Motley. While his sympathies are strongly with 
his own race, the story is to a great extent that of 
the relations of the French with the Indians ; and, 
so far, does not involve his national feeling. And 
the gallantry of the French adventurers and the in- 
credible devotion of the Jesuit missionaries, with 
their self-sacrificing courage, compel the admiration 
of the most intense Anglo-Saxon or the most fervent 
Protestant. His style is not so pictorial as that of 
Motley ; events and characters are presented more 
in the white light of reality. But it is clear and 
forcible ; and he knows so well how to give the 
results of his studies without intruding the processes 
upon us, that the story seems to be enacted before 
us as we read. 



i88o] Questions 313 

QUESTIONS 

Describe the writings of Herman Melville. 

Give some of the facts of the early life of Nathaniel Hav^- 
thorne. What was his connection with the "Brook Farm " com- 
munity? What were some of his earliest publications? When 
was '-The Scarlet Letter" written? What were his later works? 
Give an analysis of the ethical teaching of his most important 
books. What is the quality of his style ? Point out the illustra- 
tions of some of the special beauties of Hawthorne in the selec- 
tion from " The Scarlet Letter." 

What were the chief events of Mrs. Stowe's earlier life? What 
were some of her early writings ? Out of what public agitation 
did "Uncle Tom's Cabin" arise? What are some of its chief 
characteristics as a narrative? What were the most important 
of Mrs. Stowe's later works? Characterize briefly the other 
writers of fiction mentioned. Of what type of writing was Ed- 
ward Eggleston a pioneer? In general, what changes are to be 
noted in the fiction of this period as compared with that of the 
former? Characterize briefly the first four historical writers 
mentioned. What was Motley's public career? What were his 
chief historical works ? What is his style as a historian? What 
was Parkman's field of historical study ? Compare his style with 
that of Motley. 



CHAPTER XII 

Period of the Later Nineteenth Century, 
1850-1880 

PROSE. EXPOSITION 

In this period, expository writing, especially in 
the form of the essay, reaches a position of great 
importance. Some of the strongest work done by 
our writers during these years is in this class. The 
number of those who have gained distinction, and 
whose work deserves to be remembered, is so large 
that it is difficult to treat them with any satisfactory 
approach to completeness, without falling into the 
catalogue style. Doubtless time will sift the heap ; 
and the student fifty years hence will not find so 
many names to trouble him. But the judgments of 
the future cannot be anticipated ; and the best that 
can be done is to group the authors, and gain some 
idea of their relative merits and importance. Natu- 
rally we begin with the very interesting group of 
the ''Transcendentalists," with the two names at 
its head, so different in their suggestions, and yet 
equally certain always to be memorable names in our 
literary history, Emerson and Thoreau. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson's fame rests more securely upon his 
Emerson. *' Essays " than upon his poetry. As has been inti- 

314 



HUH. lIUMWilVOVM 




,yi^^^^^ ^^:^ ^'^^'rCa,^:^^, 



1 850-1880] Prose. Exposition. Evterson 315 

mated, his verse is sometimes metrical and rimed 
philosophy. It is often also true that his prose is 
very poetic in its quality. And the poetic quality 
does not injure the prose, as the prosaic quality 
sometimes spoils the verse. The " Essays " have 
influenced other writers far more than the poems 
have influenced other poets. There have always been 
a great many little men — as Lowell, in the "Fable for 
Critics," says about one man — trying to make their 
short legs cover Emerson's mighty stride ; and the 
effect is sometimes ludicrous. Aside from this pseitdo- 
influence, Emerson's prose work has been a great 
power. The most earnest and thoughtful spirits have 
read it and brooded over it. It has given texts for 
thousands of lay sermons. It has been one of the 
most germinant influences in our American thinking. 
It might be said that Emerson " struck twelve " 
the first time ; for " Nature," which appeared in 1836, 
is unexcelled in all the qualities which give greatness 
to his work. There had already been printed a 
** Right-hand-of-Fellowship " discourse, 1830; and a 
"Historical Discourse " at Concord, 1835. He had 
also, the same year, delivered a course of " Lectures 
on Biography," two of which were published in the 
"North American Review." But "Nature" was the 
first real Emersonian message to the world. His 
address on "The American Scholar," 1837, Lowell 
speaks of as our intellectual declaration of indepen- 
dence. It did for critical, speculative thought in 
America what Cooper, Irving, and Poe accomplished 
for other forms of Literature. It set an American 



3i6 Period of the Later Nmcteeiith Century [1850 

standard, so that the American critic could henceforth 
stand upon his own feet. This is one of the notable 
qualities of Emerson's thinking. He is serenely con- 
fident in his own judgments. With the most pro- 
found reverence for the great spirits of Literature, 
he judged them all from the point of view of our pres- 
ent needs. He had supreme faith in the present 
and in the future. All his interest and faith in the 
past but strengthened his confidence in the present. 
This cannot justly be said to flow from "egotism." 
It rested on his belief in God, as now present with 
men ; in inspiration as a present power. This is a 
doctrine which might easily, and as held by weaker 
spirits often has, run into fanaticism. But there is 
alwavs a savins: 2:rain of the salt of common sense 
in Emerson, which prevents that result. 

After "Nature"' and "The American Scholar" 
had been published, there was always a large public 
for anything that Emerson might write ; not large 
enough to make him rich, but large enough to give 
him a feeling of security in the literary life. The 
"Essays," First Series, appeared in 1841 : and the 
Second Series in 1844; "Representative Men," 1850; 
"English Traits," 1856; "The Conduct of Life," 
i860; and "Society and Solitude," 1870. Emer- 
son's philosophy was one of the great influences for 
the revival of " Platonism." It represented the ex- 
treme reaction from the Deistic materialism of the 
Eighteenth Century. His thinking did for America 
what Wordsworth and Coleridge did for England. 
He is often compared with Carlyle ; but the compari- 



i88o] Prose. Exposition. Emerson 317 

son is largely misleading. They were far more 
contrasted than alike. There is not a trace of the 
bitter, destructive, denunciatory spirit in Emerson. 
Opposing conditions or opinions did not fret him. 
He seemed either to rise above or to withdraw him- 
self from what was unsympathetic. He is serenely 
optimistic. It is often difficult to discover what his 
views are ; but his spirit is unmistakable. And it 
is by the influence of the spirit of his writings that 
he makes his impression on our spirits. 

Emerson's style is one to enjoy and admire ; but 
not one to imitate, or even to study as a model. It 
has the effect of obscurity, sometimes, from the 
crowded and disconnected character of the thoughts. 
It would be scarcely possible to find an obscure sen- 
tence. But unless the reader makes a strong effort 
to hold the attention, he may lose the connection. 
For Emerson, the practice Dr. Holmes recommends in 
some cases, of reading *'in" rather than ''through" 
a book, is certainly often best. He quotes largely 
from the thoughts of other writers, but he hardly ever 
quotes their words. Perhaps of all writers Montaigne 
is the one to whom he most often refers. He likes 
to use contrast or antithesis of thought ; but does 
not care especially for the antithesis as a figure of 
speech. He uses metaphor and simile constantly ; 
and quite as often for their suggestive force as for 
illustration. A quiet humor betrays itself often in 
the form of expression, which is the more enjoyable 
because unexpected. Take a single paragraph from 
'* Nature " and look into the style with some care. 



3i8 Period of the Later Nineteenth Centnry [1850 

The problem of restoring to the world original and eternal 
beauty is solved by the redemption of the soul. The ruin, 
or the blank, that we see when we look at nature, is in our 
own eye. The axis of vision is not coincident with the axis 
of things, and so they appear not transparent but opaque. 
The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and 
in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself. He can- 
not be a naturaUst, until he satisfies all the demands of the 
spirit. Love is as much its demand, as perception. Indeed, 
neither can be perfect without the other. In the uttermost 
meaning of the words, thought is devout, and devotion is 
thought. Deep calls unto deep. But in actual life, the 
marriage is not celebrated. There are innocent men who 
worship God after the tradition of their fathers, but their 
sense of duty has not yet extended to the use of all their 
faculties. And there are patient naturalists, but they freeze 
their subject under the wintry light of the understanding. 
Is not prayer also a study of truth, — a sally of the soul into 
the unfound infinite ? No man ever prayed heartily, without 
learning something. But when a faithful thinker, resolute 
to detach every object from personal relations, and see it in 
the light of thought, shall, at the same time, kindle science 
with the fire of the holiest affections, then will God go forth 
anew into the creation. 

Notice that the method is always statement rather 
than argument. If we do not feel the truth of his 
words, Emerson never stays to prove them ; but goes 
on to state another truth. Notice the bold metaphors : 
"the axis of vision," ''broken and in heaps," ''they 
freeze their subject under the wintry light of the un- 
derstanding." Notice the abrupt contrast of thought 
and style, and the quiet humor of the change in the 
two sentences, " Deep calls unto deep. But in actual 



i88o] Prose. Exposition. Thoreau 319 

life, the marriage is not celebrated." Notice how the 
last sentence lifts the thought to the highest plane, 
and closes the paragraph with a grand trumpet-call 
of faith. J^ 

Always associated with the figure and fame of Emer- Henry David 
son are those of Henry David Thoreau. He was an ^^^j.^^ -^^ ' 
accomplished scholar, and in his earlier years wrote Massachu- 

^ \ _ -^ setts, 1817; 

verse, some of which is of a high order. He was in died, 1862. 
love with nature. He liked very few human beings, 
but those few he loved very dearly. But he seemed 
to like all the gentler wild creatures ; and they seem 
to have responded remarkably. It is said of him that 
he would take fish out of the lake in his hands, and 
put them back, the fish showing no fear and making 
no effort to escape. Whether this is literal fact or 
not, it is certainly true that he had far more sympathy 
with squirrels than with men and women in general. 
He built a hut on the shore of Walden Pond, near 
Concord, and lived there alone for nearly two years. 
But, as Lowell points out, Walden Pond was not 
very far from Concord ; and the civilization Thoreau 
scorned was always conveniently near in case of need. 
His philosophy and faith were of the " Transcenden- 
tal " school ; but of a more combative and less attrac- 
tive form than those of Emerson. His writings were 
voluminous. He contributed largely to a number of 
periodicals ; and eleven volumes of his works have been 
published, nine of them since his death. They are 
for the most part, as the titles would indicate, descrip- 
tions of nature as he observed it. Some of them are : 
"Walden," 1854; ''The Maine Woods," 1864; "Cape 



320 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

Cod," 1865 ; *' Early Spring in Massachusetts," 1881 ; 
followed by volumes named for the other seasons. 
These later volumes were published and the titles given 
by others, after Thoreau's death. He is not a scien- 
tific naturalist like Audubon ; but he is a loving ob- 
server and a charming recorder of the phenomena 
of sky, field, and flood, and of the ways of flowers, 
trees, birds, and beasts. His writings gave a great 
stimulus to that sort of loving study and observation 
of nature, and set the example for a number of 
authors who, in more recent times, have written in 
a similar vein. 

A few brief extracts from " Walden " will do 
more to suggest Thoreau's peculiar outlook upon 
life and the place he holds in our Literature 
than many words about him. He thus gives his 
reasons for going to live in the woods by Walden 
Pond : 

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliber- 
ately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I 
could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came 
to die discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live 
what was not life, living is so dear ; nor did I wish to prac- 
tise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to 
live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so 
sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not 
life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into 
a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved 
to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine mean- 
ness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it 
were sublime to know it by experience, and be able to give 
a true account of it in my next excursion. 



i88o] Prose. Exposition. Thoreati 321 

And a little further on in the same chapter : 

Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man 
has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in 
extreme cases, he may add his ten toes and lump the rest. 
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity, I say, let your affairs be as 
two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand ; instead of 
a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on 
your thumb-nail. 

The intimacy with which he lived among the wild 
creatures of the woods is illustrated by another pas- 
sage. Some wild species of mouse quite different 
from the ordinary domestic pest frequented his 
cabin ; and seem to have been on terms of the 
greatest familiarity with Thoreau. He writes : 

At length, as I leaned with my elbow on the bench one 
day, it ran up my clothes, and along my sleeve, and round 
and round the paper which held my dinner, while I kept 
the latter close, and dodged and played at bo-peep with it ; 
and when at last I held still a piece of cheese between my 
thumb and finger, it came and nibbled it, sitting in my 
hand, and afterward cleaned its face and paws like a fly, and 
walked away. 

The young of the partridge he often held in his 
hands, and he thus writes in regard to them : 

The remarkably adult, yet innocent expression of their 
open and serene eyes, is very memorable. All intelligence 
seems reflected in them. They suggest not merely the 
purity of infancy, but a wisdom clarified by experience. 
Such an eye was not born when the bird was, but is coeval 
with the sky it reflects. The woods do not yield another 
such a gem. The traveller does not often look into such a 
limpid well. 



322 Period of the Later Nineteenth Centtcry [1850 



Amos Bron- 
son Alcott, 
born in Con- 
necticut, 
1799 ; died 
in Massachu- 
setts, 1888. 



Margaret 
Fuller Ossoli, 
born in Mas- 
sachusetts, 
18 10; died, 
1850. 



Amos Bronson Alcott is one of the most interesting 
personalities in the "Transcendental" group; although 
he has not left much of importance in the way of 
published writings. He was the master of a famous 
school in Boston, conducted on the theory that in- 
struction should be by conversation, rather than by 
the learning and reciting of tasks. In discipline, he 
believed and practised the idea of " vicarious punish- 
ment," and more than once in his school the pathetic 
spectacle was seen of the teacher literally punishing 
himself in the presence of the offending scholar. 
Neither in his school teaching nor in any other occu- 
pation did Alcott secure the kind of success which 
ensures comfortable housekeeping ; and it is difficult 
to see how his household would have lived but for 
the busy pen of his daughter, Louisa May. But he 
was a beautiful and inspiring presence 'in the com- 
munity where he lived, and his influence was broad- 
ening and uplifting always. His more important 
published volumes are : " Tablets," 1868 ; '' Concord 
Days," 1872; "Table Talk," 1877. 

Margaret Fuller bears to the woman authors of 
this country a relation somewhat similar to that 
which Emerson bears to all. Losing her father in 
her girlhood, her life was consecrated to a brave fight 
with fate. She kept the family together, and saw 
her younger brothers educated and well started in 
life. Meanwhile an eagerly active intellect was long- 
ing for companionship ; and as with the growth of 
her brothers and their progress toward independence, 
the pressure of her cares relaxed, we find her in close 




'■>«. &*li 



, ^JP-" 




i88o] Prose. Exposition 323 

association with Alcott, Emerson, and Ripley. She 
was one of the editors of '* The Dial." Afterwards 
she was associated with Greeley and Dana in the con- 
duct of ''The New York Tribune," in the greatest 
days of that famous newspaper. With the savings 
of her journalistic earnings, she went to Europe; 
and we find her there, a confidential friend of 
Mazzini. She was in Rome during the Revolution 
of 1848. She married Count Ossoli; and returning 
to America with him and their child, all were 
drowned in a hurricane off the south coast of Long 
Island. She was never identified with the Brook 
Farm experiment ; but she visited the colony there, 
and it has always been suspected, though never 
proved, that some of the points in the character of 
"Zenobia," in "The Blithedale Romance," were taken 
by Hawthorne from his knowledge of Margaret 
Fuller. Her most important literary work was in 
journalism ; and much of it has perished. Among 
the few published volumes are : " Woman in the 
Nineteenth Century," 1844; and ''Papers in Litera- 
ture and Art," 1848. Her views of woman's possi- 
bilities were "advanced" in their time. They have 
been for the most part realized in the present. The 
higher education, and the opportunities for intellectual 
companionship and influence for which she strenu- 
ously pleaded, are now freely open to all women who 
are capable of them, and will take advantage of them ; 
and for this, thanks are due, among other influences, 
to the work of this brave and talented woman. It 
will be noticed that by her early death Margaret 



324 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



George 

Ripley, 
1802-1880. 



Orestes 
Augustus 
Brownson, 
1803-1876. 



Theodore 

Parker, 

1810-1860. 



Fuller's work is thrown within the limits of the 
previous period. But on account of her intimate 
association with the group of " Transcendentalists," 
her name is placed here. 

George Ripley was one of the original " Transcen- 
dentalists," and a leader in the Brook Farm experi- 
ment. He was during a long life one of our leading 
men of letters; but his work was largely journalistic 
and anonymous. He wrote extensively for "The 
New York Tribune," and was chief editor — with 
Charles A. Dana — of "The American Cyclopaedia," 
both in its original and revised editions. 

Orestes Augustus Brownson has been referred to 
as a " Transcendentalist," with whom the reactionary 
tendency was so strong as to carry him into the 
Roman Catholic Church. His restless, eager, active 
mind led him to this goal from Presbyterianism, 
through Universalism, Unitarianism, and the " Trans- 
cendental" philosophy. He was an active politician 
of extreme Democratic views, and was at one time 
much interested in the socialistic schemes of Robert 
Owen. He was a philosopher of original and strong 
ways of thinking. During a large part of his life 
he maintained and edited a Quarterly Review, which 
at one time was reprinted and circulated in England. 
He published several novels and a large number of 
philosophical and controversial works, which have 
been collected and republished in nineteen vol- 
umes. 

Theodore Parker was a preacher, of radical views, 
who was closely associated with the "Transcendental" 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 325 

movement. James Freeman Clarke was also asso- James Free- 
ciated with this group of thinkers, but wrote and xsio-isss. ' 
preached more within the lines of the Unitarian 
denomination. He published a number of volumes 
on religious topics, of which those that had the 
widest popularity were probably " Ten Great 
Religions," 1871-1873, and ** Every-day Religion," 
1886. 

A writer on religious topics of a different type, Horace 
but equally original and independent in his thinking, 1802-1876. 
and of very wide influence, was Horace Bushnell. 
"Nature and the Supernatural," 1858, and "The 
Vicarious Sacrifice," 1865, have been the most 
strongly influential of his writings ; appealing, how- 
ever, mostly to those interested in theological ques- 
tions, while "The Moral Uses of Dark Things" has 
a more general range of interest. 

Elisha Mulford was a clergyman of the Protestant Eiisha 
Episcopal Church who, while living in retirement in iSas-Tssq 
his native town of Montrose, Pennsylvania, wrote and 
published, in 1870, "The Nation." This was a work 
on the fundamental principles of free government, 
which at once put him in the front rank of thinkers. 
In 1 88 1 he issued "The Republic of God," which 
does for theology a work similar to that which 
" The Nation " did for higher politics. Both books 
are remarkable among works of their class for their 
high literary quality. 

Among educators who in this period published 
works on philosophical subjects should be mentioned 
Mark Hopkins and James McCosh ; and among 



326 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



James 
Thomas 
Fields, 
1816-188 



Josiah 
Gilbert 
Holland. 



George 

William 
Curtis, born 
in Rhode 
Island, 1824; 
died in New 
York, 1892. 



those who wrote on questions of government, Theo- 
dore Dwight Woolsey and Francis Lieber. 

Several names of importance may be associated by 
their connection with journaUsm. 

Horace Greeley wrote editorials which were models 
of terse, strong, Saxon English. James Thomas 
Fields, long the publisher of the ''Atlantic Monthly," 
and through whom, as publisher, much of our best 
Literature has reached us, has written out his memo- 
ries of the distinguished men with whom he has been 
associated in a volume called " Yesterdays with 
Authors," besides issuing two volumes of original 
verse. Josiah Gilbert Holland, who has already been 
mentioned as novelist and poet, while editor of '* The 
Springfield Republican," published, a series of vol- 
umes of essays, generally on topics of every-day 
manners and morals. They appeared .at first under 
the pen name of "Timothy Titcomb." "Letters to 
Young People," " Gold Foil," " Letters to the 
Joneses," are the titles of some of these, which had 
a very wide circulation. While editor of " Scribner's 
Monthly," he issued two volumes of essays reprinted 
from that journal under the title of " Every-day 
Topics." 

The name of George William Curtis connects this 
group with that of the "Transcendentalists." In 
1842, with an older brother, he joined the Brook 
Farm community, and continued with them for eigh- 
teen months. The next year and a half the brothers 
spent in farming and study at Concord, Massachu- 
setts. In 1846 Curtis went abroad, and spent four 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 327 

years in travel and study. On his return to this 
country, in 1850, he became one of the editors of 
''The New York Tribune," He was also associated 
with the management of the first series of " Putnam's 
Monthly." In 1853 he began in "Harper's Monthly " 
the publication of a series of papers which have been 
a,mong the most powerful influences for general cult- 
ure that our country has ever known. '' The Edi- 
tor's Easy Chair" was the part of the magazine to 
which many of its readers turned most eagerly, and 
from which they derived the greatest satisfaction. 
In a style of graceful humor and delicate satire, 
Curtis held up the mirror to many of our national 
weaknesses. With a broad critical appreciation he 
noted and described what was best and most promis- 
ing in our Literature, art, and social life. With a 
genial earnestness he taught the lessons of sincerity 
and thoroughness in all forms of work, and held the 
public to the highest ideals of excellence. There can 
be no more convincing evidence of the essential sound- 
ness of the taste of the American people than the 
unchanging popularity of the '' Easy Chair." Curtis 
was also editor-in-chief of " Harper's Weekly," from 
the time of its establishment until his death. This 
was the principal vehicle of his political writing, and 
it exercised a wide influence. Curtis acted generally 
with the Republican party, but he would accept no 
ofifice, and at times did not hesitate to act indepen- 
dently. His most important political service was prob- 
ably his advocacy of Civil Service Reform, in the ad- 
vancement of which his efforts were of great efificacy. 



328 Period of tJie Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

His first publications were volumes of travel. ** Nile 
Notes" appeared in 1851; the " Howadji in Syria" 
and "Lotus-Eating" in 1852. The " Potiphar Pa- 
pers," 1853, is a satire upon New York society, 
with a slight thread of story running through it. 
" Prue and I," 1856, is a charming bit of descrip- 
tion of New York life forty years ago, written in an 
exquisite style. "Trumps," 1861, was a novel of 
New York social life with a strong satire on the poli- 
tics of that period. Curtis was also a favorite plat- 
form lecturer and a very effective orator. He pub- 
lished an address on " The Life, Character, and 
Writings of William Cullen Bryant" in 1879, an 
" Eulogy of Wendell Phillips " in 1884, and an " Ad- 
dress on James Russell Lowell" in 1892. Besides 
these, he edited "Motley's Correspondence" in 1889, 
and three volumes of his essays " From the Easy 
Chair" were published in 1891, 1893, and 1894; and 
a collection of his orations in 1 893-1 894. 

An interesting group of writers, the permanence of 
whose reputation, however, seems doubtful, is that of 
the broad, grotesque humorists, who have been very 
widely read, and whom some have considered a pe- 
culiarly characteristic American product. The school, 
if it can be so called, began in the previous period 
with Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, whose " Georgia 
Scenes " is the forerunner of many similar works 
and is valuable also as a social study. Frederick 
Swartwout Cozzens caused a great deal of honest mer- 
riment with " The Sparrowgrass Papers." Charles 
Farrar Browne, under the pen name of " Artemus 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 329 

Ward," was a famous humorist during the Sixties. 
The element of " surprise " is perhaps the strongest 
element in his wit. It is said that President Lincoln 
found great comfort in the writings of Browne, as 
well as in those of David Ross Locke, who during the 
same period kept people laughing over the sayings of 
" Petroleum V. Nasby." The " Nasby " papers differ 
from the other writings of this group in that they had 
a distinct political purpose and constitute a satire upon 
the political methods of the time. 

One of the sure indications of comparative matu- 
rity in the intellectual life of a people is the develop- 
ment of language study and literary criticism. We 
consider now the group of writers who in these de- 
partments have given distinction to this period of 
American Literature. 

George Perkins Marsh combined linguistic study George 

Perkins 

with interest in public affairs. He was for many Marsh, 
years, through frequent changes in administration, ^Soi-1882, 
United States minister to Italy. His first publication 
was an ''Icelandic Grammar," 1838. In 1859 ap- 
peared ** Lectures on the English Language." This 
was followed, in 1862, by ''The Origin and History 
of the English Language," and in 1864 he published 
the results of his studies in history and natural sci- 
ence in a work called " Man and Nature," which 
was revised and republished in 1874, under the title 
"The Earth as modified by Human Action." 

William Dwight Whitney's career was more exclu- William 
sively scholastic. From the year 1854 until his death, whitney, 
he was professor of Sanskrit, and from 1876, of ^227-1895. 



330 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 



Richard 
Grant White, 
1821-1885. 



Henry Nor- 
man Hudson, 
1814-1886. 



Henry 

Theodore 

Tuckerman, 

1813-1871. 



Edwin Percy 
Whipple, 
born in 
Massachu- 
setts, 1819 ; 
died, 1886. 



Comparative Philology, at Yale. He contributed to 
philological journals and occupied a very high posi- 
tion in linguistic scholarship. He superintended the 
preparation of the *' Century Dictionary." His works 
of more general interest are some volumes of lectures, 
*' Language and the Study of Language," and "Ori- 
ental and Linguistic Studies." 

Richard Grant White was a man of great versa- 
tility of talent. He was a careful and independent 
thinker on linguistic problems, publishing, on this 
subject, "Words and their Uses," 1870, and "Every- 
day English," 1880. He edited the works of Shake- 
speare, the edition appearing first in 1857, ^.nd being 
revised and republished in 1865. In 1863, during 
the Civil War, he published a little " brochure," 
called "The New Gospel of Peace," a satirical attack 
upon the " peace at any price " party, which was a 
very effective political pamphlet. Henry Norman 
Hudson was a Shakespearean scholar who has been 
of great service to students of Literature. His edition 
of Shakespeare has been widely used in schools and 
colleges, and his introductions to the plays are ex- 
amples of luminous, suggestive, helpful criticism. 

Henry Theodore Tuckerman was a favorite writer 
for newspapers and magazines. He was one of our 
earliest competent art critics. He published a num- 
ber of volumes of sketches of travel, of literary and 
art criticism, and of verse. 

The first American author to make literary criti- 
cism his chief work, and lift it to a place of first-rate 
importance, was Edwin Percy Whipple. His formal 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 331 

education only reached the high school period ; from 
which he went into mercantile business. But his 
literary education continued in his private reading 
and study. He became a frequent contributor to the 
best periodicals, and one of the most popular lecturers 
on the platform. An article on Macaulay, in 1843, 
attracted the attention of that famous writer, and 
brought its author prominently before the reading 
public. His critical writings have been gathered into 
volumes and published with the following titles : 
" Essays and Reviews," 1848; ''Literature and Life," 
1849; "Character and Characteristic Men," 1866; 
"Literature of the Age of Elizabeth," 1869; "Suc- 
cess and its Conditions," 1871 ; "Great Speeches 
and Orations of Webster," edited 1879. After his 
death appeared " Recollections of Eminent Men," 
1886; "American Literature and Other Papers," 
1887; and "Outlooks on Society, Literature, and 
Politics," 1888. Whipple's method is a contra- 
diction of a current false impression of the critic 
as chiefly a faultfinder. He is generally apprecia- 
tive ; and sometimes seems to be too kindly in his 
judgments. Yet he is by no means undiscriminating. 
He sometimes very keenly expresses a fundamental 
failure ; as when he wrote of Whitman's " Leaves 
of Grass," that " it had every leaf except the fig 
leaf." His papers were many of them prepared 
originally as popular lectures, and have a good deal 
of anecdote and other features which tend more to 
immediate interest than to permanent value. Yet 
they are all careful, discriminating studies of their 



332 Period of the Later Nmeteeiith Century [1850 

subjects, and some of them are among the very ablest 
-^^ of their class. 
James James Russell Lowell put his most intense effort 

Lowell. i^^o his work in poetry; and he says, somewhere, 

that in his poems, even more than in his personal 
letters, his real self is expressed. But it is a ques- 
tion, nevertheless, whether his strongest work does 
not appear in his Essays. " Conversations on Some 
of the Old Poets" appeared in 1845; ''Fireside 
Travels," in 1864; "Among my Books," in two 
series, in 1870, 1876; "My Study Windows," 1871 ; 
"Democracy and Other Addresses," 1886; "Political 
Essays," 1888; "Latest Literary Essays and Ad- 
dresses," 1891; and "The Old English Dramatists," 
1892. It will be seen that his essays fall into three 
main classes : Essays of Travel ; Political Essays 
and Addresses; and Literary Essays. The "Fireside 
Travels " is one of the most delightful books of the 
kind. It is written as a genial travelling companion, 
with a wide fund of information, would talk. In 
his political essays Lowell stood for the highest 
ideals of public life. " On a Certain Condescension 
in Foreigners " shows his strong Americanism of 
feeling and fervent patriotism, which, however, did 
not prevent his pointing out national faults so clearly 
that he was by many thoughtlessly accused of a lack 
of true patriotic feeling. The oration on " Democ- 
racy" was delivered in England, and is an eloquent, 
but discriminating, defence of American institutions. 
The essay on Abraham Lincoln was written before 
his death, and, like the passage quoted from the 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 333 

** Commemoration Ode," is a remarkable instance 
of just contemporary judgment. But Lowell's most 
characteristic prose work is found in his literary 
essays. He was one of the first Americans to 
appreciate Chaucer. He has discussed the com- 
paratively unknown Elizabethan dramatists with ful- 
ness of knowledge and keenness of judgment. His 
wealth of allusion is remarkable. His pages are 
crowded with quotations and references, many of 
them drawn from obscure sources and pointing to 
little known writers. Yet he does not seem cum- 
bered with the weight of his learning. One reads 
the allusions, references and quotations with the easy, 
though generally mistaken, feeling that it would be a 
slight matter to turn to these writers, and see for 
oneself what they say. Without any attempt at a 
formal, connected history of Literature, his works yet 
constitute a full body of comment on the course of 
English literary history. A careful reading of his 
essays with independent study of the works discussed 
would amount to a pretty thorough course of study 
in that subject. As an example of Lowell's work 
in this kind, and of critical writing in general, study 
a paragraph from his essay on Thoreau, in the vol- 
ume called " My Study Windows." 

Solitary communion with nature does not seem to have 
been sanitary or sweetening in its influence on Thoreau's 
character. On the contrary, his letters show him more 
cynical as he grew older. While he studied with respect- 
5 ful attention the minks and woodchucks, his neighbors, 
he looked with utter contempt on the august drama of 



334 Period of the Later Ni7ieteenth Century [1850 

destiny of which his country was the scene, and on which 
the curtain had already risen. He was converting us back 
to a state of nature "so eloquently," as Voltaire said of 

10 Rousseau, " that he almost persuaded us to go on all fours," 
while the wiser fates were making it possible for us to walk 
erect for the first time. Had he conversed more with his 
fellows, his sympathies would have widened with the assur- 
ance that his peculiar genius had more appreciation, and 

15 his writings a larger circle of readers, or at least a warmer 
one, than he dreamed of. We have the highest testi- 
mony^ to the natural sweetness, sincerity, and nobleness 
of his temper, and in his books an equally irrefragable 
one to the rare quality of his mind. He was not a strong 

20 thinker, but a sensitive feeler. Yet his mind strikes us 
as cold and wintry in its purity. A hght snow has fallen 
everywhere in which he seems to come on the track of the 
shier sensations that would elsewhere leave no trace. We 
think greater compression would have done more for his 

25 fame. A feeling of sameness comes over us as we read so 
much. Trifles are recorded with an over-minute punctu- 
ahty and conscientiousness of detail. He records the 
state of his personal thermometer thirteen times a day. 
We cannot help thinking sometimes of the man who 

30 " Watches, starves, freezes, and sweats 

To learn but catechisms and alphabets 
Of unconcerning things, matters of fact," 

and sometimes of the saying of the Persian poet, that 
"when the owl would boast, he boasts of catching mice 
35 at the edge of a hole." We could readily part with 
some of his affectations. It was well enough for Pythag- 
oras to say, once for all, "When I was Euphorbus at 
the siege of Troy " ; not so well for Thoreau to travesty 
it into " When I was a shepherd on the plains of Assyria." 

^ Emerson. 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 335 

40 A naive thing said over again is anything but naive. But 
with every exception, there is no writing comparable with 
Thoreau's in kind, that is comparable with it in degree 
where it is best ; where it disengages itself, that is, from 
the tangled roots and dead leaves of a second-hand Orient- 

45 alism, and runs limpid and smooth and broadening as it 
runs, a mirror for whatever is grand and lovely in both 
worlds.^ 

Lowell's characteristic fulness of allusion is well 
illustrated by the fact that in this short paragraph 
there are references to French, Persian, and Greek 
writers, besides an English quotation which is far 
from familiar. The most serious defect in Thoreau's 
work is expressed in a powerful sentence at lines 4-8. 
One needs to appreciate the condition of the country 
in the Sixties, and the intense feeling of those who, 
like Lowell, were earnest patriots and enthusiastic anti- 
slavery men, to feel the force of this and the follow- 
ing sentence. But any one may appreciate the keen, 
forcible discrimination of the short antithetic sentence 
at lines 19-20. The metaphor in lines 21-24 is very 
forcible to one who knows anything about rabbit 
shooting. These passages illustrate a striking quality 
of Lowell's prose work in the mingling of scholarly 
allusion and quotation, homely commonplace refer- 
ences, and powerful, solemn appeals to the deepest 
feelings, without arousing a feeling of incongruity. 
As criticism, this paragraph happens to be for the 
most part depreciatory ; but the high appreciation 
of the excellence of Thoreau's work is implied 

1 Copyright, 1871, Houghton, Mifflin &. Co. Boston. 



33^ Pcj'iod of iJic Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

throughout, and is eloquently stated at the close. 
The point to be noted is that there is no general 
praise and no general blame ; but each is specific 
and helps us to a real comprehension of the charac- 
teristic qualities of the author criticised. 
Oliver Wen- Thc first issuc of the ** Atlantic Monthly," in 
November, 1857, contained an article called ''The 
Autocrat of thc Breakfast Table." Its opening 
words, " I was just going to say, when I was inter- 
rupted," suggest the method of this and of the 
papers which followed under the same name. It 
was not the fashion then to print the names of the 
authors of magazine articles. But the sparkling wit 
and humor of these papers, and the bright and often 
beautiful bits of verse which appeared occasionally in 
them, revealed the author to discerning minds ; and 
readers began soon to watch eagerly for the appear- 
ance of this, perhaps the most characteristic work of 
Oliver Wendell Holmes. "The Autocrat" is a book 
by itself. There is nothing else in exactly the same 
vein. There is keen character drawing in it. The 
reader easily forms a mental picture of the board- 
ing-house company. The " Landlady's Daughter," 
"The Young Man of the Name of John," and 
"The Old Gentleman" are particularly well drawn 
pictures. There is a tender little love story running 
through it ; very unobtrusive, scarcely appearing at 
first, but giving a sweet human interest to the whole. 
And the talk of the "Autocrat" is like the talk of 
Dr. Holmes as it has been described by those who 
knew him, — a constantly bubbling fountain. He 



i88o] Prose. Exposition 337 

avoids politics and subjects of current interest; but 
his theories of life and conduct have {m^i play. His 
warm sympathy, keen sarcasm, and speculative ten- 
dencies come out in a whimsical, tentative fashion, 
which is extremely interesting. His conservative, 
aristocratic tastes are frankly acknowledged in his 
asserted preference for "the man with the family 
portraits" over ''the man with the daguerrotypes " ; 
though he admits that the first may be himself a 
worthless creature, in which case he would prefer 
the second. But one cares little for the peculiar 
opinions of the papers, in the delight one feels in 
the way they are expressed. Two volumes succeeded 
"The Autocrat," called, respectively, "The Professor 
at the Breakfast Table," and "The Poet at the 
Breakfast Table." They have many of the same 
characteristics, "The Professor" being a little more 
controversial in its tone on religious questions, and 
" The Poet " containing a larger proportion of verse. 
They hardly maintain the high level of bright 
humor that distinguished "The Autocrat." These 
three volumes appeared in 1858, i860, and 1862. 
Other volumes of essays were "Currents and Coun- 
tercurrents," 1861 ; " Soundings from the Atlantic," 
1863; and " Mechanism and Morals," 1871. These, 
with other volumes, discuss a variety of topics, scien- 
tific, semi-scientific, social, literary, and moral, always 
with keen judgment and abundant wit. Just before 
his death, in 1890, the old charm of "The Autocrat" 
appeared afresh in the papers called " Over the Tea- 
cups." 

z 



338 Period of the Later Niyieteenth Century [1850 



Donald 

Grant 

Mitchell, 

bom in 

Connecticut, 

1822. 



\i 



Charles 
Dudley 

Warner, 
bom in 
Massa- 
chusetts, 



Althoiic^h he bes^an his Hterarv work in the early 
years of the centur}', — "Fresh Gleanings " was pub- 
lished in 1847, — Donald Grant Mitchell is still living 
and writing. In 1850 and 185 1, under the name of 
'' Ik ]\Iarvel," appeared the books which gave him 
fame ; and which remain among the best-loved 
writings of our Literature. '' The Reveries of a 
Bachelor" and *' Dream Life"' speak tender thoughts 
and true, helpful reflections in pure, musical, poetic 
prose. He has published also one novel, " Dr. 
Johns," and a number of volumes of essavs, for the 
most part on topics connected with rural life. 

One of the most delightful of our humorous writers 
is Charles Dudley Warner. He has discussed life 
and letters, morals and manners, with a charming 
mingling of the serious and the comic, in the columns 
of " The Hartford Courant," in " Harper's Magazine," 
and in a series of volumes which have been widely 
read. " Back Log Studies," " My Summer in a 
Garden," and "As We Were Saying" are the titles 
of some of his better-known books. 

/ 

QUESTIONS 

What has been the special power of Emerson's " Essays '* ? 
What relation does •• Nature " bear to his later prose writings ? 
What does Lowell say of •• The American Scholar "" ? What is 
a notable quality of Emerson's thinking? What were his later 
volumes? With what English authors may he be compared? 
What are some of the peculiarities of his style ? Point out some 
of the points of style in the extract from -Nature." Give 
some account of Thoreau's character and work. In the extracts 
given, what peculiar qualities are displayed? What were the 



i88o] Questions 339 

chief events in the life of Margaret Fuller? What is the special 
importance and interest of her career? What other writers are 
associated with the group of " Transcendentalists '' ? What 
other important writers on religious and educational topics? 
What writers are associated as journalists? The name of what 
writer connects these two groups? With what magazines was 
Curtis connected? What was the influence exerted by the 
"Easy Chair"? What were his other publications? What dis- 
tinguished writers on linguistic topics? Who are some of the 
writers of criticism of this period? Give an estimate of the 
value of the critical work of Edwin P. Whipple. What are 
the chief prose works of James Russell Lowell ? What are some 
of the notable qualities of his prose style ? How are these qualities 
illustrated in the selection from his essays? What was the 
"Breakfast Table" series of Oliver Wendell Holmes? What 
are some of the characteristics of his prose work? 



CHAPTER XIII 

Period of the Later Nineteenth Century, 
1850-1880 

ORATORY 

The oratory of this period, as it has left its impres- 
sion upon our Literature, shows a marked difference 
from that of the preceding epoch. The great orators 
are not in the houses of Congress. The debates 
there no longer hold the attention of the people as 
they did in the days of Calhoun, Clay, and Webster. 
This may be due to the degree of success which at- 
tended the efforts of the compromisers. Politicians 
were afraid of the slavery issue. Consequently dis- 
cussion on that burning question was freer and more 
frequently heard from the pulpit and the platform 
than from the halls of the national legislature. As 
this was the question which more than all others inter- 
ested the people, the greatest argumentative and per- 
suasive ability was developed where its discussion was 
freest. 
Henry Ward In the early part of the period, the most famous 
born^r' name in pulpit and platform oratory is that of Henry 
Connecticut, Ward Beechcr, the brother of Mrs. Harriet Beecher 

1813; died in . . ^ 

New York, Stowc. Hc was tramcd under the same miiuences as 
those which moulded her mind and character. Edu- 

340 



li: 



1 850-1880] Oratory 341 

cated at Amherst College and Lane Theological 
Seminary, his active life began in Indiana ; first at 
Lawrenceburg, and afterwards at Indianapolis. But 
for the most of his life, he was the pastor of Plymouth 
Church, Brooklyn ; and it is safe to say that for many 
years he was the most famous preacher in America. 
He was also a popular lecturer during this period, 
and wrote extensively for the press ; being editorially 
connected with the " Independent," and afterwards 
founding the *' Christian Union," which in later 
years became "The Outlook." Beecher's sermons 
were stenographically reported, and printed in these 
and other papers, and thus very widely circulated. 
Both on the platform and in the pulpit he spoke 
constantly and eloquently against slavery ; and is 
counted with Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd 
Garrison among the most powerful agents in the 
antislavery agitation. His oratory is distinguished 
by the qualities of fervid eloquence, great abundance 
and variety of illustration, startling independence of 
statement, and brilliant humor. He was an original 
thinker, and many of his sermons are models of per- 
suasive argument, combining close logical thought 
with beautiful imagery. One of the greatest achieve- 
ments in the history of oratory was the series of 
addresses he delivered in England during the Civil 
War. The popular mind in England had been turned 
toward the cause of the South, largely by the fact 
that the war hindered the importation of cotton, 
and thus interfered seriously with their manufactur- 
ing industries. Beecher set himself, with remark- 



I 



342 PeiHod of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

. able success, to overcome this prejudice. In more 
than one instance he faced a bitterly hostile audience, 
and, before his address was finished, had overcome 
this hostility and carried his hearers enthusiastically 
to the acceptance of his conclusions. 

His publications number twenty titles. Some of 
the more important are : *' Lectures to Young Men," 
1844; ''Star Papers," 1858, i'859; ''Sermons," 1858, 
1868; "American Rebellion," speeches in England, 
1864; "Sermons," eleven volumes, 1869-1875; "Life 
of Jesus the Christ," Vol. I, 1871, Vol. II, 1891 ; 
"Yale Lectures on Preaching," 1872-1874. 
Phillips In the later years of this period, a j^osition of even 

Brooks, . 1 • n • 1 1 -r*! MT 

born in Mas- more Universal mfiuence was occupied by Phillips 
sachusetts Brooks. He was not a finished orator as was Beecher, 

1835; died, ' 

1894. his utterance being too rapid for the best effect ; but 

there was a power of intense earnestness in his 
delivery which gave him an irresistible hold upon his 
audiences. His active career fell after the anti- 
slavery agitation and the war; and he never used 
the pulpit for the discussion of political or economic 
questions. He was never a controversialist in any 
direction. His sermons were appeals to the spiritual 
nature, using the motives of the Christian religion. 
His career was one of continued, unbroken, popular 
success. Graduating at Harvard College, he pursued 
his professional studies at the Seminary in Alexandria, 
Virginia. For ten years he preached in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, and in 1869 became rector of Trinity 
Church, Boston. In 1891 he was elected Bishop of 
Massachusetts. 



i88o] Oratory 343 

Bishop Brooks' sermons bear the test of printing 
far better than most popular orations. His style is 
pure and elegant. His method is not that of argu- 
ment, but rather the statement of spiritual truth, with 
abundant illustration from nature and from literature. 
There is never any humor ; scarcely ever any anec- 
dote. The effect is the result of clear, strong think- 
ing and the presentation of the thought in a great 
variety of aspects. It is impossible to classify him 
theologically. He states truth in terms of life rather 
than of dogma, and never seems interested in the 
dogmatic inferences that might be drawn from what 
he says. He was, as a preacher, particularly attrac- 
tive to men, and especially to young men. He 
published "Yale Lectures on Preaching," 1877; 
"Sermons," 1878; "The Influence of Jesus," a 
course of lectures delivered in Philadelphia, on the 
Bohlen Foundation, 1874 ; "The Candle of the Lord," 
a volume of sermons, 1881 ; "Twenty Sermons," 1886; 
and "The Light of the World," sermons, 1890. 

A paragraph from "The Influence of Jesus" is 
given as an example of the pulpit oratory of this 
period. 

And yet once more, the morality of Jesus involves the 
only true secret of courage and of the freedom that comes 
of courage. More and more we come to see that courage 
is a positive thing. It is not simply the absence of fear. 
To be brave is not merely not to be afraid. Courage is that 
compactness and clear coherence of all a man's faculties and 
powers which makes his manhood a single operative unit in 
the world. That is the reason why narrowness of thought 



344 Period of tJie Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

and life often brings a kind of courage, and why, as men's 
range of thought enlarges and their relations with their 
fellow-men increase, there often comes a strange timidity. 
The bigot is often very brave. He is held fast into a unit, 
and possesses himself completely in his own selfishness. 
For such a bravery as that the man and the world both pay 
very dear. But when the grasp that holds a man and his 
powers is not his self-consciousness but his obedience to his 
Father, when loyalty to Him surrounds and aggregates the 
man's capacities, so that, held in His hand, the man feels 
his distinctiveness, his distinctive duty, his distinctive privi- 
lege, then you have reached the truth of which the bigot's 
courage was the imitation. Then you have secured courage, 
not by the limitation, but by the enlargement of the life. 
Then the dependence upon God makes the independence of 
man in which are liberty and courage. The man's own per- 
sonality is found only in the household of his Father, and 
only in the finding of his personality does he come to abso- 
lute freedom and perfect fearlessness. 



So brief an extract can, of course, give only a very 
imperfect, fragmentary notion of the orator's style. 
Yet it will serve to illustrate some of the qualities we 
have pointed out. There is no argument. The pas- 
sage is in the nature of an extended definition of 
courage, and the definition is commended to us by 
its repeated statement in varied form. There is not 
any really figurative language here ; and there is not 
much in Bishop Brooks' sermons, as compared with 
many others. The higher conception of courage is 
developed by contrast with the more comrrion courage 
of the narrow-minded bigot. And one who has fol- 
lowed the lecture from the beginning can scarcely 



i88o] Oratory 345 

fail to make the desired inference that the Hfe of 
Jesus is the example of this courage. 

Robert Charles Winthrop was an active statesman Robert 
in the earlier years of this period, and, in the later winthrop, 
decades, a favorite orator for ceremonial occasions. 1809-1894- 
He was a finished orator of the old school, and a 
man of broad and thorough scholarship in history 
and public affairs. 

Wendell Phillips was probably the most effective Wendeii 
platform orator in the antislavery agitation. William 1811I1884. 
Lloyd Garrison furnished the facts and figures and 
logic. Phillips knew how to set them on fire, and 
burn them into the consciousness of his hearers. 
Barrett Wendell tells an incident of Phillips' career, 
to the effect that in a Phi Beta Kappa address at 
Harvard College, he made his dignified, conserva- 
tive audience applaud the assassination of the Em- 
peror of Russia, before they knew what they were 
doing. It was a triumph of effective oratory, and was 
characteristic of Phillips. He was probably the 
greatest master of invective among American orators. 
His power was largely in intensity of statement and 
condensed force of delivery. His orations do not 
bear the test of print so well as do those of George 
William Curtis, who has already been spoken of at 
length, but whose name ought to be mentioned here 
as one of the most accomplished, elegant, and effec- 
tive orators of the time. 

The nearest to an exception to our remarks about Charles 
the legislative oratory of this period is Charles ^^^^^. 
Sumner ; who stood in the Senate as the great 



Ij 



346 Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

champion of emancipation. His addresses are 
learned, logical, elegant, impressive. They do not, 
however, have the spontaneity, the flash and fire, 
of the true orator. Probably the most effective 
speech he ever made was an oration before a 
popular audience, on '' The True Grandeur of 
Nations." 

Among the ablest of those who maintained the 
Southern side in the great sectional debate of this 
Alexander period was Alexander Hamilton Stephens of Georgia. 
Stephens Left an orphan at an early age, he was assisted to 
born m ^.w education by kind friends, but paid every penny 

1812; of the pecuniary indebtedness thus incurred with 

^" his earliest surplus earnings. He was recognized as 
one of the ablest lawyers in the country ; and from 
the year 1843 until 1859, s-^d again from 1874 till 
1882, he represented Georgia in the United States 
Congress. He was a Whig in politics, according to 
the old divisions of party, and strongly opposed dis- 
union. But when the act of secession was passed 
by his state, his principle of State Sovereignty led 
him to acquiesce in the action, and he accepted the 
office of Vice-President of the Confederate States. 
In a famous address delivered at this time, he stated 
with a frankness and force unexampled in any of 
the speeches of the period, that the fundamental 
principle on which the proposed new government 
was based was the inequality of races, justifying the 
institution of slavery. He accepted the results of 
the war loyally, and did able and patriotic work in 
his last terms of service in Congress. He published 



i88o] Oratory 347 

one of the ablest contemporary accounts of the con- 
test of 1861-1865, entitled "The War between the 
States." 

A consistent advocate of the doctrine of State Sov- 
ereignty, and a leader in the movements which re- 
sulted in the Civil War, was Jefferson Davis of Jefferson 
Mississippi, the President of the Confederate States, born in 

He had been a brave officer in the Mexican Kentucky, 

1808; 

War ; was a member of the cabinet of President f^ied in 

. Louisiana, 

Pierce; and for a number of years represented his 1889. 
state in the United States Senate. A paragraph 
from his last address in that body, bidding it fare- 
well when his state had adopted the Ordinance of 
Secession, is, perhaps, as good an example as can 
be found of the oratory of that side of the question; 
and states clearly and forcibly the principle on which 
the leaders of secession justified their course. The 
speech from which this is taken is preserved by Davis 
himself in his book '' The Rise and Fall of the Con- 
federate Government." ^ 

It is known to Senators who have served with me here 
that I have for many years advocated, as an essential attri- 
bute of State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from 
the Union. Therefore, if I had not believed there was a 
justifiable cause, if I had thought that Mississippi was acting 
without sufficient provocation, or without an existing neces- 
sity, I should still, under my theory of the government, be- 
cause of my allegiance to the State of which I am a citizen, 
have been bound by her action. I, however, may be per- 
mitted to say that I do think she has justifiable cause, and I 

^ Published by D. Appleton & Co. 



34^ Period of the Later Nineteenth Century [1850 

approve of her act. I conferred with her people before that 
act was taken, counselled them then that, if the state of 
things which they apprehended should exist when their Con- 
vention met, they should take the action which they have 
now adopted. 

Then, Senators, we recur to the principles upon which our 
Government was founded ; and when you deny them, and 
when you deny to us the right to withdraw from a Govern- 
ment which, thus perverted, threatens to be destructive of 
our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers when we 
proclaim our independence and take the hazard. This is 
done, not in hostility to others, not to injure any section of 
the country, not even for our own pecuniary benefit, but 
from the high and solemn motive of defending and protect- 
ing the rights we inherited, and which it is our duty to trans- 
mit unshorn to our children. 



Abraham 
Lincoln, 
born in 
Kentucky, 
1809; 
died at 
Washington, 
D.C., 1865. 



The best examples of oratory during this period 
have been left to us by the great war president Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Lincoln's life belongs to the political 
rather than to the literary history of the country, 
but we may properly indicate some of the landmarks 
of his career as an orator. He was entirely self- 
educated, having only the very slightest advantages 
of the most primitive common schools. He made his 
way to the bar of the state of Illinois, and became one 
of the leading lawyers in a time of great forensic 
ability. Lawyers' addresses at that time, in that 
community, were not reported ; and we have , only 
traditional accounts of the ability he displayed in that 
form of oratory. He had, we are told, a remarkable 
power of getting rid of the irrelevant circumstances 



i88o] Oratory 349 

and piercing quickly to the vital issue in his cases. 
He early entered politics ; was repeatedly in the 
Legislature, and served a term in the United States 
House of Representatives. As the question of slav- 
ery forced itself to the front, Lincoln recognized its 
importance, and in a famous utterance stated what 
many believed but few dared to say, the absolute 
necessity that the question should be met and de- 
cided. " A house divided against itself cannot stand. 
I believe this government cannot endure permanently 
half slave and half free." This seems a commonplace 
now. But then the vast majority of the people were 
determined that it must so remain. Lincoln took the 
position that the general government had the right 
and therefore was under obligation to keep slavery 
out of the territories. This was the party platform 
on which Lincoln conducted the famous debate with 
Stephen A. Douglas. They were candidates for the 
United States Senate, and the direct object of the can- 
vass was the election of members of the Legislature 
who should choose the senator. The result showed 
that the majority of the people of the state favored 
Lincoln, but the arrangement of the legislative dis- 
tricts was such that the majority of the Legislature 
chose Douglas. The debate, however, brought Lin- 
coln before the country and made him one of the two 
or three most prominent candidates for the nomination 
to the Presidency. The speeches of Lincoln in this 
debate are among our noblest examples of argumenta- 
tive oratory. The logic is strong, the language clear, 
always putting the thought in effective form. Lowell 



350 Period of the Later Ni7ieteenth Century [1850 

notes the fact that Lincoln's oratory always appeals 
to the highest qualities in his hearers. This is one 
secret of its enduring influence. He keeps close to 
the present immediate bearings of the matter under 
discussion ; but he keeps always in mind their rela- 
tion to the unchanging principles of right reason. 
So his addresses are always interesting. Shortly be- 
fore the nominations for the Presidency were made, 
in February, i860, he delivered an address at the 
Cooper Institute, New York, which deepened the im- 
pression which had been made by his debate with 
Douglas. It was for the most part a luminous, can- 
did argument for the right of the general government 
to control the question of slavery in the territories, 
closing with an eloquent passage which lifted the 
discussion to the realm of morals, ending with the 
famous sentence : " Let us have faith that right 
makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, dare 
to do our duty as we understand it." Then came the 
election, the secession of the Southern States, and 
the inauguration. I remember as a lad hearing the 
first inaugural address, and as the calm, pleading 
words fell on my ear, wondering if there could be 
any so unreasonable as to refuse to be influenced. 
Then followed the terrible years of the Civil War. 
The next great instance of his power as an orator 
waa in the midst of the struggle, at the dedication 
as a national cemetery of the battle-field of Gettys- 
burg, on November 19, 1863. Edward Everett 
delivered the formal oration in his usual eloquent 
manner ; but that oration few people remember. 



i88o] Oratory 351 

The President had been invited to be present, and 
had prepared an address of twenty lines of print. 
In the course of it he said, '' The world will little note 
nor long remember what we say here, but it can 
never forget what they did here." The words have 
proved true as to all but the twenty lines of Lincoln's 
address. The world has clearly noted and will never 
forget what he said there. It is one of the immortal 
words. There were important speeches after this, at 
different times. But I will mention only the one 
spoken on the last great occasion when Lincoln stood 
before the whole American people. The war was 
practically over. The hostile armies had not yet 
surrendered, but the end was clearly in sight. Lin- 
coln intended no change in the general policy of his 
administration, and there was, therefore, no occasion 
for an extended inaugural address. But it was an 
opportunity to say the word which should guide the 
feelings of a great people in the moment of victory. 
The address did this work. Its closing paragraph 
ought to be in the memory of every American. The 
Gettysburg address is given for more particular study. 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, 
can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that 
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a 
final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that 
that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper 



352 Period of the Later Nmeteenth Ce^itiLry [1850 

that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot 
dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. 
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have 
consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. 
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say 
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is 
for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfin- 
ished work which they who fought here have thus far so 
nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
the great task remaining before us, that from these honored 
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which 
.they gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we here 
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ; 
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of free- 
dom, and that government of the people, by the people, and 
for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

It is exceedingly difficult to analyze this famous 
address. The effect it produces is that of a living 
utterance upon living spirits, and in so far it has the 
elusive charm of life. One can hardly fail to see 
its appropriateness to the occasion and to feel the 
dignity of its rhythmic sentences. Observe how the 
orator joins the thought of the special occasion to 
the great enduring principles which he believed to 
be at stake in the contest. Notice the reserve with 
which the temptation to expand is resisted. A great 
part of the power is in the wonderful condensation. 
At the same time one cannot fail to notice the 
progress of thought from the opening sentence to 
the immortal phrase with which it ends. A single 
great thought simply but appropriately spoken is the 
secret of this, perhaps the greatest oration in Ameri- 
can history. 



i88o] Questions 353 

QUESTIONS 

What was the cause of the marked difference between the ora- 
tory of this period and that of the preceding? Who was the 
most famous pulpit orator of the time? Give some account of 
his career. What were tlie striking characteristics of his oratory? 
What remarkable series of orations did he deliver? In what re- 
spects did the pulpit oratory of Phillips Brooks differ from that of 
Beecher? Give an outline of his career. What was his method 
of address ? Analyze briefly the selection from '' The Influence 
of Jesus.'' What type of oratory is represented by Robert C. 
Winthrop? Describe the style of Wendell Phillips. Describe 
the oratory of Charles Sumner. What two distinguished men 
represent the oratory of the Southern States in this period? 
Give some account of the life and public career of Alexander H. 
Stephens. In the selection from Jefferson Davis, what are the 
leading thoughts presented? Give some account of the early 
career of Abraham Lincoln. What famous utterance in one of 
his earlier political speeches ? What striking qualities were dis- 
played in the debate with Douglas ? Describe the Cooper Insti- 
tute address. What was the occasion of the Gettysburg address ? 
Describe the second inaugural address. Analyze briefly the 
Gettysburg address. 

2A 



Remarks. 



CHAPTER XIV 

The Last Twenty Years 

In the effort to give a general view of the present 
condition of Literature in America, a cause of embar- 
rassment is the amount of material. The wide diffu- 
sion of intelligence has tended to stimulate Litera- 
Generai turc by affording a very large reading public ; and 

the multiplication of newspapers and magazines has 
worked in the same direction by furnishing an easy 
mode of access to this public. Moreover, the general 
habit of reading and the study of good Literature 
which has been fostered by the popular reading 
circles and clubs, "has developed a certain amount of 
technical ability with the pen ; so that the number of 
those who can turn out a copy of reasonably correct 
verse, or a readable story or essay, is now very large. 
The university movement has led to the production 
of a vast number of treatises and theses ; and every 
ambitious teacher, nowadays, thinks it due to his 
own reputation and to that of his institution that he 
print something. Some popular authors have made 
large sums of money by their writings ; and one re- 
sult of this is the mistaken impression that " Litera- 
ture " is a sure and easy road to wealth. These facts 
and tendencies, with others which have worked in the 
same direction, have resulted in an enormous amount 

354 



The Last Twenty Years 355 

of book production ; so that even to name all the 
writers of the last twenty years would require another 
volume at least as large as this ; and the volume 
would not be so useful as an ordinary trade catalogue. 
If all those and only those could be named who really 
deserve a place in American Literature, a valuable 
result would be secured ; but it is not at all probable 
that this could be successfully attempted. It may 
be possible, however, and if possible, it will be useful, 
to point out some of the qualities and tendencies of 
our present Literature ; mentioning only a very few 
representative names under each class. In doing this, 
no disparagement is intended toward those whose 
names may be omitted. Completeness being out of 
the question, it is only hoped that the survey may be, 
in some degree, representative. 

The most of the verse-writing at present is Lyric, verse. 
and of the lighter, less serious type. There is a great 
deal of technical excellence and delicacy of form with General 
a tendency to the cultivation of the more artificial tics."^^^ 
types, such as the Sonnet and the French forms. 
The influence of the realistic movement, so strong in 
all nineteenth-century Literature, is seen in the num- 
ber of dialect poems, illustrating the character and 
habits of different sections of the country. One of 
Riley's titles, " Poems Here at Home," and one of 
Field's, '* A Little Book of Western Verse," illustrate 
the local character, which is one of the accompani- 
ments of this realistic tendency. The average quality 
of the verse now published far exceeds that of earlier 
periods, but there is none which appeals to the uni- 



356 



The Last Tzventy Years 



versal heart as did that of Longfellow and Whittier. 
There is an interesting group of writers in Canada 
who have recently attracted attention by work of 
excellent quality, both in verse and in prose fiction. 
Brander Matthews, in his recent " Introduction to 
American Literature," expresses the opinion that we 
have a right to expect a distinctively Canadian Litera- 
ture as well as an Australian. There may be reason- 
able doubt whether the differences between Canada 
and the United States are sufficient to cause a dis- 
tinct type of Literature, but it is of great interest to 
mark the appearance of this group of writers as one 
of the signs of developing national life in our northern 
neighbor. 

It was in 1870 that a little bit of dialect verse called 
" The Heathen Chinee " caught the eye of the Amer- 
Francis Bret ican public. It was such a perfect satire upon the 
Anti-Chinese agitation of that period, and in all re- 
spects so perfect a thing of its kind, that it proved the 
advent of a new force in our Literature. Francis 
Bret Harte has, of late years, given himself to story- 
writing, to the loss of the amount and quality of the 
verse he might have given us. His best work has 
represented the -life of the mining camps in Cali- 
fornia and the Rocky Mountain region ; often in 
dialect. He has written strong, dramatic, spirited 
stories both in prose and verse, and has a rich fund 
of humor and pathos. Of late years he has resided 
in England, and his later writings are better known 
there than in America. John Hay's '' Pike County 
Ballads" shows similar characteristics; and Eugene 



Dialect 
Verse. 



Harte, born, 
1839. 



John Hay. 



The Last Twenty Years 357 

Field, whose recent death brought to a premature Eugene 
close a most promising career, employed the same igLiSQe. 
method in many of his '* verses," as he always 
modestly termed them. But Field was not limited 
to this vein. Probably his reputation is more firmly 
based upon his poems of childhood. He entered, 
as few writers have been able to do, into the child 
spirit ; and in *' Little Boy Blue," and other similar 
poems, has very tenderly expressed the sorrow of 
bereavement. A very different writer, and yet one 
whom we instinctively associate with Field on ac- 
count of his similar power in dealing with the 
thoughts and feelings of the child, is James Whit- James Whit- 
comb Riley. His verse is much of it in the dialect 
of the Indiana farmer ; and is quite unique in our 
Literature. He is not confined to this, however; but 
has written some beautiful verse in literary English. 

The strong lyrical tendency of our present poets Nature 
is illustrated by Edith Matilda Thomas, in delicate 
studies of nature, full of the sweetness and spice 
of the woods ; by Emily Dickinson, in very quaint, 
original, and suggestive utterances of a rare spirit; 
and by Richard Watson Gilder, in verse which 
sometimes speaks with a force unusual in recent 
poetry. 

Henry Cuyler Bunner best illustrates the tendency French 
to the use of the French forms, and the bright, deli- °'^"^^" 
cate, little poems which no term so well describes as HenryCuyier 
the French phrase, "Vers de Societe." We have is^t^'i-iSoe 
quoted, in the Introduction, his pretty triolet " The 
Pitcher of Mignonette." 



358 



TJie Last Twenty Years 



Canadian 
Poets. 

Bliss 
Carman. 



Prose 
Fiction. 



Realism. 



The Short 
Story. 

Romance. 



Bliss Carman began his career in Canada. He 
can no longer be distinctively identified with that 
group of writers noticed above, but his verse is so 
fresh and strong as to demand special notice. 

The realistic movement has been strongly influen- 
tial, also, in recent fiction, and perhaps on account of 
the wide extent of our country and the marked social 
differences between the different sections, this realism 
has frequently busied itself in the close and detailed 
study of local types of character and manners. As a 
natural result, dialect is very prominent in most of 
the recent novels and short stories. 

In careful study of character and manners, in 
natural, unaffected, modern quality of style, in bright, 
piquant dialogue, in the skilful use of ordinary, com- 
monplace incident for artistic effect, and in purity of 
aim and tone, our best modern fiction excels. Like 
the verse, its lack is intensity of interest, that master- 
ful grasp upon the feelings, and that depth of reflec- 
tion contained in Hawthorne's greater works. Due 
partly to the special demand created by the multipli- 
cation of magazines, partly to the general tendency 
to brevity characteristic of the time, is the fact that 
so many of our recent writers of fiction give so large 
a share of their attention to The Short Story. In 
this, American Literature has, during recent years, 
attained a high degree of perfection. The Romance 
has not been altogether unrepresented, and we have 
a few writers who have joined in the recent reaction 
in that direction. 

The first names to be mentioned among our writers 



TJie Last Twenty Years 359 

of fiction, however, are free from the local tendency. 
At the head of the list naturally comes to all minds 
the name of William Dean Howells. He made his wiiuam 
first appearance before the public in a little volume Howeiis 
of verse called " Poems of Two Friends," published in ^°™ ^^37, 
connection with John James Piatt. He wrote a " Life 
of Lincoln" during the presidential campaign of i860. 
He spent some years in Italy, part of the time as 
American consul at Venice, and as a result of this 
issued ''Venetian Life" in 1866, and "Italian Jour- 
neys" in 1867. His "Suburban Sketches," 1871, 
revealed him as a delicate humorist, and " Their 
Wedding Journey " in the same year made him one 
of the most popular writers of the day. Twenty- 
seven volumes appeared in the next twenty-three 
years. He was for some years editor of the " At- 
lantic Monthly," and later issued a series of criti- 
cal articles in "The Editor's Study" of "Harper's 
Magazine." Among the most popular of his novels 
since "Their Wedding Journey" are "A Modern 
Instance," 1882, and "The Rise of Silas Lapham," 
1885. Howells has clear and strongly held the- 
ories as to fiction, which he has fully expounded 
in the volumes " Criticism and Fiction " and " My 
Literary Passions." He is a realist, and therefore 
writes novels rather than romances. He thinks the 
deepest interest and the most useful lessons alike are 
found in the portrayal of ordinary every-day life and 
the sort of people we constantly meet. His writings 
are entirely pure and elevating in their tendency. 
He never deals with crime or vice as if they were 



360 The Last Twejity Years 

the main source of interest in life. There is a vein 
of irony running through his work. He does not 
usually seem to take his characters very seriously. 
The average woman of his stories especially is a 
somewhat weak, inconsequent sort of person. The 
conversation of his characters is very bright and nat- 
ural, if not rather too constantly in the vein of word- 
play and "chaff." In some of his later books he has 
shown a tendency to use fiction for the purpose of 
expressing the results of his study of social problems. 
Closely associated in most minds with Howells is 
Henry Henry James, although the points of difference are 

James, orn ^^ least as many and important as the points of 
resemblance. He is one of the most proHfic, 
and at the same time one of the most finished and 
artistic, of modern writers. In the years from 1875 
to 1893 he issued thirty-three different publications, 
an average of nearly two each year. But there is 
not the least sign of haste in his work ; his style is 
finished to the finest point. He says the brightest 
things in the most inimitable way. His scenes and 
characters are studied to their last details, and are like 
cameo work in their fine delineations. His conversa- 
tion is perfect in its kind. Perhaps his strongest work 
is in such short stories as "Daisy Miller," "Tales of 
Three Cities," "The Wheel of Time." But his work 
is all strong. It lacks the interest of incident and 
strong passion. It seems not likely ever to be widely 
popular, but for minute study of character and of 
style, he will always be intensely attractive to the 
literary student. 



The Last Twenty Years 361 

One of the most widely popular of recent American Francis 
novelists is Francis Marion Crawford. His father was ci-awford, 
a distinguished sculptor, and thus it happened that ^°^^ ^^54- 
Crawford's birth and a considerable part of his 
life were in Italy. This has given character to 
much of his work. His stories are mostly romantic 
novels. '' Mr. Isaacs," which gave him his first popu- 
larity, is almost a pure romance, depending largely 
for its interest on the element of the occult. Many 
critics think that his strongest work has been done 
in those stories which deal with the life of modern 
Italy, and which, therefore, have more of the charac- 
ter of realism. Of these "A Roman Singer" and 
the " Saracinesca " series have been widely read. 
Crawford also has his theory of what a novel 
ought to be, and has expounded it in a little volume 
which he published in 1893. It is, in substance, that 
the novel is a drama that can be carried about with 
one and enjoyed in private, the descriptive and purely 
narrative parts having their function in doing for the 
reader what is done for the spectator of a play by 
the costumes and scenery. 

Prominent among the writers who illustrate the ten- Dialect Fic- 
dency to close study of local characteristics is Fran- Lockf" 
cis Bret Harte. His "Luck of Roaring Camp" was Studies. 
as fresh a note in fiction as his '* Heathen Chinee " Francis Bret 
in verse, and was a more artistic one. It had a firm 
directness of narrative style, a strong, clear concep- 
tion and presentation of character, and a singular 
combination of a grim sort of humor with heart- 
breaking pathos. The gambling, murdering, self- 



362 



TJie Last Twenty Years 



George 

Washington 
Cable, born 
1844. 



Mary 

Noailles 

Murfree. 



sacrificing hero he introduced to fiction was not 
altogether credible, but he was certainly interesting. 
Harte has had any number of imitators in this type 
of character study. 

George Washington Cable has taken the Creole 
of Louisiana as the material for his work in fiction. 
His first book to attract attention was a volume of 
studies of Louisiana life called " Old Creole Days." 
This was followed by a series of novels dealing in 
general with the same phase of life and character. 
"The Grandissimes," "Dr. Sevier," " Bonaventure," 
and " John March, Southerner," are the titles of his 
principal works. Cable's characters are strongly 
conceived and distinctly individualized. They reveal 
themselves in their words and actions. There is a 
charming element of romance, but it is the romance 
of real life, of consistent character, and of credible 
experiences. A special charm is added by the com- 
paratively unfamiliar Creole and Acadian atmosphere. 
The dialect is peculiar, and in some instances there is 
so much of it as to hinder the easy enjoyment of the 
book. There is a delicate vein of humor. " Narcisse," 
in "Dr. Sevier," is one of the most deliciously humor- 
ous characters that Literature has given us since 
Dickens dropped his pen. 

Mary Noailles Murfree, better known under her pen 
name of " Charles Egbert Craddock," has taken for 
her special field the life of the people of the central 
mountain region of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Caro- 
lina, and Georgia. It was a new and unexplored field. 
Miss Murfree knew it well; and the original, racy 



The Last Twenty Years 363 

traits of the people afforded great possibilities of 
character study. The mountain country and the law- 
less life of the "moonshiners," or illicit distillers, 
added a legitimate element of romance. Miss Mur- 
free has unusual descriptive power, and she tells a 
story well. There is, perhaps, a failure of imagina- 
tive force in her portrayal of character. The people 
in her different books are to a great extent repeti- 
tions. The dialect is a very conspicuous feature, 
and becomes sometimes a little wearisome. " Where 
the Battle was Fought," " The Prophet of the 
Great Smoky Mountains," and " In the Stranger 
People's Country," are characteristic examples of 
her work. 

Very strong work of a similar kind is being done Mary 
for rural New England by Mary Eleanor Wilkins. wnkins. 
She began with little sketches of life and character 
in the remote New England town, generally select- 
ing forlorn old maids or widows as the central figures 
of her scenes. These she treated with delicacy and 
fine force of art ; it being a matter of wonder how 
much interest she would arouse in such apparently 
unpromising material. There were two volumes of 
these sketches, published under the titles " A New 
England Nun" and "A Humble Romance," before 
she published any extended novels. Of these there 
are now four before the public, characterized by simi- 
lar qualities to those of the sketches. In ''Madelon," 
she introduced strongly romantic elements of plot 
and character ; but in the others she is strongly real- 
istic, with a preference for the gray tones of life. 



364 



The Last Twenty Years 



Margaret 
Deland. 



Elizabeth 
Stuart Phelps 
Ward. 



Sarah Orne 
Jewett. 



Joel 

Chandler 

Harris. 

James Lane 
Allen. 



Alice 
French. 



Hamlin 
Garland. 

Richard 
Harding 
Davis. 



Indeed, this prevailingly gloomy atmosphere seems 
to • present a rather one-sided view of the life and 
society represented, which had its cheerful and hope- 
ful aspects as well. 

Margaret Deland, without the use of dialect, has 
written fine studies of life and character in Pennsyl- 
vania ; and in the village of " Old Chester " she has 
made a contribution to the geography of the imagina- 
tion which is not unworthy to be compared with *' Cran- 
ford." The work of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward is 
strongly imbued with the deep and intense religious 
feeling to be expected of one whose childhood was 
spent on Andover Hill. Sarah Orne Jewett gives us 
studies of rural life, not so prevailingly cloudy as 
those of Miss Wilkins, although dealing more with 
the seacoast communities. 

Very interesting and important work is that of Joel 
Chandler Harris, who has preserved the folk-lore of 
the negro race, in perfect negro dialect. James Lane 
Allen has written of life in the beautiful " Blue 
Grass " country of Kentucky, in a style of rare 
purity, with a delightful blending of realistic and ro- 
mantic elements. Alice French, under the pen name 
of " Octave Thanet," writes strong studies of life in 
the smaller towns and cities of the Middle West ; and 
Hamlin Garland takes us out to the farms of Iowa, 
Dakota, and Wisconsin, showing us, for the most part, 
the darker side of that phase of life. Richard Har- 
ding Davis has painted the two extremes of New York 
City life; and in "Van Bibber" has added a living 
form to the number of real characters in fiction. 



The Last Twenty Years 365 

Mary Hartwell Catherwood has taken the field Romance. 

Mary 

which Parkman cultivated in his histories, and has Hartweii 
written some powerful romances of the French Catherwood. 
settlement of Canada ; and a Canadian writer, Gil- Gilbert 

Parker. 

bert Parker, is using similar material. So Arthur ^^^^^j. gj^gj.- 

Sherburne Hardy has written, in " Passe Rose," bumeHardy. 

a pretty romance of the days of Charlemagne ; 

and latterly Silas Weir Mitchell has gone to siiasWeir 

the days of 1776 for the subject of a historical '^^• 

romance. 

We have two humorous writers whose work seems Humor, 
to stand outside of any possible classification ; which 
is perhaps so much the worse for the classification. 
Samuel Langhorne Clemens has kept the world 
laughing for a generation. His pen name of '' Mark " Mark 
Twain " is certainly one of the best-known names of 
the time. The world is his province, from California 
to the tomb of Adam ; and his regard for the unities 
of time is shown in the title of one of his books, " A 
Yankee at King Arthur's Court." Francis Richard Francis 
Stockton delights in telling the most extravagantly stocSon. 
impossible tales with a realistic effect which is to 
many irresistibly humorous. In " The Lady or the 
Tiger " he has set the world to guessing an appar- 
ently insoluble conundrum. The charm of his work 
is as difficult to characterize and as undeniably irre- 
sistible as that of '' Mark Twain." 

A very large proportion of the books published juvenile 
every year are classified as Juvenile Literature. At- 
tention has been given to this in the previous periods, 
and it must not be entirely neglected here. Probably 



366 



The Last Twenty Years 



Frances 

Hodgson 

Burnett. 



The Drama. 



History. 



the book that has had the greatest vogue since " Un- 
cle Tom's Cabin" is "Little Lord Fauntleroy," by 
Frances Hodgson Burnett. Mrs. Burnett is an Eng- 
lishwoman, American by adoption and marriage. 
Her earliest books were novels of English life. She 
then wrote several whose scenes and characters were 
American; and "A Fair Barbarian," as well as 
" Fauntleroy " might be called international. She 
has written other juvenile stories ; but the one named 
remains the most widely read book of its type. 

In dramatic composition there has been more ac- 
tivity during the present period than the last. At 
least three plays by American authors have had wide 
popularity. Joseph Jefferson's dramatization of *' Rip 
Van Winkle " must be regarded as an entirely Ameri- 
can production. So, too, with **The Gilded Age," 
written in collaboration by Charles Dudley Warner 
and " Mark Twain " ; and " The Old Homestead," by 
Denman Thompson. W. D. Howells has written a 
series of farces ; a combination of dramatic and nar- 
rative writing, where there is just enough of descrip- 
tion and narration to take the place of scenery and 
costume, and so make the action clear to the reader. 
Mrs. Burnett has dramatized some of her stories, and 
Henry James put into dramatic form his story " Daisy 
Miller." Bronson Howard and Brander Matthews 
stand for an able endeavor to apply the principles 
of literary art to the conditions of the modern stage. 

The historical writing of the present time is char- 
acterized by fulness of research and careful accuracy 
of statement rather than by imaginative portrayal of 



TJie Last Tiventy Years 367 

the past. It is a time of monographs, rather than of 

great historical compositions. There is a tendency • 

to follow the lead of the English historian Green, and 

give us the story of the people rather than of kings 

and cabinets ; to recognize that there is something 

worthy of record in the quiet times of peace, as well 

as in the stirring times of war. John Bach MacMas- John Bach 

Nd 3.C IVI 3.S t c r 

ter, in his " History of the People of the United 
States," illustrates these tendencies; and John Fiske John Fiske. 
is giving us a series of careful studies of the begin- 
nings of our national history. The tendency of for- 
mer periods was strongly to seek subjects outside of 
our own bounds. Our present historians for the most 
part busy themselves with American topics. Justin Justin 
Winsor's wide researches have prepared materials 
for many future historians ; and Edward Eggleston Edward 
is doing important work in the history of our earliest 
national life. 

In the department of exposition, a noteworthy fact Exposition, 
is the marked development of critical writing. Mr. criticism. 
Stedman's critical work belongs here, although his Edmund 
poetry was placed in the previous period. " The Vic- stedman. 
torian Poets," ''The Poets of America," and "The 
Nature and Elements of Poetry," are the most notable 
contributions which our Literature has made to criti- 
cism. Among the younger writers of literary criti- 
cism, Hamilton Wright Mabie is distinguished for Hamilton 
broad scholarship, and clear, discriminating, yet ^able. 
warmly appreciative judgment expressed in charm- 
ing English. The establishment and support of 
''The Critic" in New York, of "The Dial" at 



368 



The Last Tiventy Years 



Nature. 



John 
Burroughs. 



Oratory. 



Concluding 
Remarks. 



Chicago, and of " Poet Lore " at Boston are worthy 
of note as indicating a growing interest in this type 
of writing. There is a large group of students and 
observers of nature who record their observations 
in charming essays. The influence of Thoreau may 
undoubtedly be seen here. Of these the most rep- 
resentative is probably John Burroughs. His books 
are full of the atmosphere of the fields and woods, 
fragrant with the pine and birch, and musical with 
bird songs. " Wake Robin," " Winter Sunshine," 
" Fresh Fields," are the titles which well suggest 
the contents of some of his books. 

In oratory of the literary type, the present time 
seems to be lacking. Perhaps the preachers and 
forensic pleaders and statesmen of the time are too 
near to be judged fairly. Some say that the days of 
oratory are gone. But perhaps if they could see with 
the eyes of their grandchildren they would not say 
so. Volumes of sermons are printed and many 
arguments are delivered in court and in Congress ; 
and each presidential campaign lets loose a flood 
of eloquence. But it seems better to let the subject 
pass with these general remarks rather than attempt 
the selection of any one or two to represent the 
oratory of this period. 

In general, it may be said of the present period of 
our Literature that it shows a remarkable average of 
excellence, but no examples of great power. It is a 
high prairie with no mountain peaks. Perhaps *' moun- 
tain peaks" is a figure of too high sounding a char- 
acter to be justly applied to any of the American 



The Last Twenty Years 369 

authors. But the fact seems to be that while there 
are a great many writers of correct and musical verse, 
of bright entertaining stories, and of charming essays, 
there is no one for whose productions men wait as 
they used to for a new poem from Longfellow or 
Whittier, or a new story from Hawthorne. Con- 
temporary fame is proverbially untrustworthy; and 
it may be that posterity will rate some of our present 
writers far more highly than do their contemporaries. 
Contemporary writers should be judged fairly by the 
standards set by the best work of the past. An in- 
telligent appreciation and enjoyment of what is best 
in literary art is the only worthy outcome of criticism ; 
and if this book has contributed in any degree to this 
end, the object with which it was written has been 
attained. 

QUESTIONS 

What are some of the influehces which have tended greatly to 
increase the number of authors in recent years ? What are some 
of the characteristics of present-day verse? Briefly characterize 
the verse of Bret Harte. Compare and contrast the verse of 
Eugene Field and James Whitcomb Riley. What writer repre- 
sents New England? What writer has shown especial facility 
in the French forms? What writer represents the Canadian 
group ? What is the present tendency in prose narration ? What 
are the chief works of William Dean Howells? Give a sketch of 
his career. What is his theory of fiction? What is the peculiar 
charm of the work of Henry James ? What are some of his limi- 
tations? In what sort of story does he excel? In what points 
does F. M. Crawford differ from the two preceding writers? 
How does the prose work of Harte compare with his verse? 
What part of the country and what class of people does G. W. 
Cable describe in his novels? What is the peculiar interest in 
the works of Miss Murfree? How does Miss Wilkins portray 

2B 



370 TJie Last Twenty Years 

New England life? In what type of story have American writers 
shown especial talent? Briefly characterize some of the leading 
short-story writers. Has the romance any prominent representa- 
tive among recent American writers? What two remarkable 
humorists have we ? What very popular author of juvenile stories ? 
What is the present condition of dramatic authorship? What 
is the character of recent historical writing? What work is 
being done in criticism? What are the general characteristics 
of recent Literature? 



INDEX 



Abbott, Jacob, i6i, 162, 306. 

Abbott, J. S. C, 162. 

"Absalom" (Willis), 102. 

Adams, Hannah, 67. 

Adams, John, 85. 

Adams, J. Q., 179. 

" Adventures of Captain Bonneville " 

(Irving), 147. 
" After a Tempest " (Bryant), 9. 
"Aftermath" (Longfellow), 212. 
" Age of Reason " (Paine), 81. 
"Agnes of Sorrento " (Stowe), 301. 
"Airs of Palestine " (Pierpont), 99. 1 
Alcott, A. B., 184, 187, 322, 323. 
Alcott, Louisa M., 306, 322. ' 

Aldrich, T. B., Selection Studied, 261, 

262-263, 284, 305. 
Alexandrine Line, 9, 205. 
" Alhambra, The " (Irving), 147. 
"Alice of Monmouth" (Stedman), 

264, 285. 
Allen, Tames Lane, 364, 
Alliteration, 2, 12, 100, loi, 114, 123, 

205, 215, 271. 
Allston, Washington, 103. 
Almanacs, 50. 

" American Flag " (Drake), 93. 
" American Literature and Other 

Papers" (Whipple), 331. 
" American Magazine," 179. 
"American Manufacturer," 237. 
"American Rebellion" (Beecher), 

342. 
"American Scholar" (Emerson), 

188, 315. 
" American Weekly Mercury," 46. 
Ames, Fisher, Selection Studied, 85- 

87, 171. 
Ames, Nathaniel, 51. 

37 



Amherst College, 341. 

" Among my Books " (Lowell), 

332. 
" Among the Hills " (Whittier), 241. 
Amphibrach, 4. 
Anapest, 4, 95, 122, 202. 
"Annabel Lee" (Poe), 117. 
" Anne " ( Woolson) , 305. 
Annuals, 180-181,289. 
Anti-slavery Movement, 184-185. 
" Anti-slavery Standard," 224. 
Antithesis, 20. 
Argumentation, 26. 
" Arrow and the Song "(Longfellow,, 

209. 
" Arthur Bonnicastle " (Holland), 

304. 

"Arthur Mervyn " (Brown), Selec- 
tion for Study, 76-79. 

Assonance, 13, loi, 114, 122-123, 205, 
215, 271. 

"Astoria" (Irving), 147. 

" As We Were Saying " (Warner) 

338. 

" Atlantic Monthly," 180, 197, 224, 
225, 262, 293, 302, 326, 336, 359. 

"At Sundown" (Whittier), 237, 242. 

Audubon, J. J., 164-165, 320. 

" Aurelian " (Ware), 129. 

" Autobiographia " (Whitman), 255. 

Autobiography of Franklin, Selec- 
tions for Study, 70-73. 

"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" 
(Holmes), 195, 197, 336. 

" Back Log Studies " (Warner), 338. 
Balanced Sentences, 20, 157. 
Ballad, The, 15, 208 209, 244-246, 
279, 281. 



372 



Index 



"Ballad of Babie Belle" (Aldrich), 

263. 
" Ballads and Other Poems " (Long- 
fellow), 208. 
Bancroft, George, 23, 159-160, 161, 

290, 309. 
"Banner of the Jew" (Lazarus), 

Selection for Study, 260. 
"Barbara Frietchie" (Whittier), 

15; Study, 244-246, 281. 
" Barclay of Ury " (Whittier), 239. 
" Barefoot Boy " (Whittier), 240. 
Barlow, Joel, 13, 62, 65. 
Bartram, John, 47, 84. 
Bartram, William, 84. 
" Battle of the Kegs " (Hopkinson), 

64. 
"Battle Pieces" (Melville), 288. 
" Bay of Seven Islands " (Whittier), 

241. 
" Bay Psalm Book," 42, 45. 
Beecher, H. W., 26, 340-342. 
Beecher, Lyman, 298. 
"Before the Curfew" (Holmes), 

197. 
"Beleaguered City" (Longfellow), 

208. 
"Belfry of Bruges" (Longfellow), 

209. 
"Bells, The" (Poe), Study, 119-124. 
"Bells of San Bias" (Longfellow), 

207. 
" Benedicite " (Whittier), 7. 
Benjamin, Park, 197. 
" Beowulf," 31. 
Beverly, Robert, 46. 
Bigelow, John, 70. 
" Biglow Papers" (Lowell), 225; 

Study, 229-232, 284. 
Biography, 23, 67-75, I47. 148. I59. 

160, 308, 310. 
" Biographical and Critical Miscella- 
nies " (Prescott), 160. 
" Biographical Stories " (Hawthorne), 

290. 
" Birds of America " (Audubon) , 165. 
" Bittersweet " (Holland), 259, 284. 
" Black Cat, The " (Poe), 127. 
Blair, James, 46. 
" Blameless Prince " (Stedman),264, 

285. 



Blank Verse, 7, 26, 56, 104, 109. 

" Blithedale Romance" (Hawthorne), 

291, 294, 323. 
Boker, G. H., 16, 280-281, 285. 
" Bonaventure " (Cable), 362. 
" Book of Romances " (Taylor), 278. 
"Book of the East" (Stoddard), 

261. 
" Boston Courier," 224. 
" Boston News Letter," 46. 
Bowdoin College, 206, 207, 212, 289, 

298. 
Bowles, Samuel, 258. 
Boyesen, H. H., 304. 
" Boy's Froissart " (Lanier), 269. 
" Boy's King Arthur " (Lanier), 270. 
" Boy's Mabinogion " (Lanier), 270. 
" Boy's Percy" (Lanier), 270. 
" Bracebridge Hall" (Irving), 146, 

ISO- 
Bradford, William, Study of Selec- 
tion, 38-39. 
" Bradford and Winslow's Journal," 

40. 
Bradstreet, Anne, Study of Selec- 
tions, 43-45- 
" Breakfast Table Series " (Holmes), 

336-337- 
" Bridal of Pennacook " (Whittier), 

237- 

Bridge, Horatio, 289, 290. 

"Broken Oar" (Longfellow), 11. 

Brook Farm, 184, 290, 291, 323, 324, 
326. 

Brooks, C. T., 249. 

Brooks, Phillips, 25 ; Study of Selec- 
tion, 342-344. 

Brown, C. B., Study of Selection, 75- 

79. 134. 179- 

Browne, C. F., 328. 

Brownell, H. H., 249. 

Browning, E. B., 224. 

Brownson, O. A., 183, 184, 324. 

Brown University, 181. 

"Brutus" (Payne), 104. 

Bryant, W. C, 6, 9, 15; Study of 
" Thanatopsis," 106-115, 118, 149, 
j 161, 179, 328. 

I " Buccaneer, The " (Dana), 93. 
i " Buildingof the Ship " (Longfellow), 
1 209. 



Index 



373 



Bunner, H. C, ii, 12, 357. 

Burnett, T. H., 366. 

Burns, Robert, Poem by Halleck, 96- 

97. 

Burroughs, John, 368. 
Bushnell, Horace, 325. 
Butler, Samuel, 40, 59. 

Cable, G. W., 306, 362. 

" Calaynos " (Boker), 281, 285. 

Calef, Robert, 50. 

Calhoun, J. C, 168, 340, 

" California and Oregon Trail " 

(Parkman), 311. 
California State University, 282, 
Cambridge Group of Poets, 194-235. 
Canadian Poets, 358. 
" Candle of the Lord" (Brooks), 343. 
"Cantata for Centennial" (Lanier), 

270. 
"Cape Cod" (Thoreau), 319. 
" Captain, my Captain ! " (Whitman), 

257- 
" Carib Sea " (Stedman), 265. 
Carman, Bliss, 358. 
"Carmen Bellicosum " (McMaster), 

103. 
"Carter Quarterman" (Baker), 303. 
Cary, Alice, 281. 
Cary, Phoebe, 281. 
" Cassandra Southwick " (Whittier) , 

237- 
"Castle Nowhere" (Woolson), 305. 
" Cathedral, The " (Lowell), 233. 
Catherwood, M, H., 365. 
" Cecil Dreeme " (Winthrop), 303. 
" Centennial Hymn " (Whittier), 241. 
" Century Dictionary," 330. 
" Century Magazine," 180, 258. 
Cesura, 5. 
" Chambered Nautilus " (Holmes), 

9; Study, 203-205. 
Channing, W. E., 25, 165. 
" Chapel of the Hermits " (Whittier), 

239- 
" Character and Characteristic Men " 

(Whipple), 331. 
Character in Narration, 140. 
" Charles Egbert Craddock," 362. 
" Charles V " (Prescott), 161. 
" Chautauqua," 178. 



" Children of the Lord's Supper " 
(Longfellow), 209. 

Choate, Rufus, 25, 172. 

" Christus " (Longfellow), 210, 285. 

"Clarel" (Melville), 288. 

" Clari, the Maid of Milan " (Payne), 
104. 

Clarke, J. F., 202, 325. 

" Class Poem " (Lowell), 223, 225. 

Clay, Henry, 167, 340. 

Clemens, S. L., 365. 

" Cloth of Gold " (Aldrich), 263. 

Coherence, 20. 

Colleges (earliest foundations), 181. 

Columbia College, 181, 304. 

" Columbiad " (Barlow), 14, 63. 

" Columbus " (Lowell), 227. 

" Columbus, Life," etc. (Irving), 147, 
150. 

"Commemoration Ode" (Lowell), 
14, 98 ; Studied, 233-235, 257, 333. 

Common Schools, 178. 

" Common Sense " (Paine), 81. 

" Companions of Columbus " (Ir- 
ving), 147. 

" Concord Days " (Alcott), 322. 

"Concord Fight" (Emerson), 188; 
Study, 190. 

" Conduct of Life " (Emerson), 316. 

" Conquering Worm " (Poe), 117, 
118. 

"Conquest of Granada" (Irving), 
147. 

"Conquest of Mexico" (Prescott), 
160. 

" Conquest of Peru " (Prescott), 160. 

"Conspiracy of Pontiac " (Park- 
man), 312, 

" Contrast, The " (Tyler), 67. 

Conversation in Narration, 140. 

" Conversations on Some of the Old 
Poets" (Lowell), 332. 

Convivial Lyrics, 202. 

Cooke, J. E., 180, 302. 

Cooper, J. F., 130 ; Study, 132-140, 
144. 149. 161, 225, 307, 315. 

" Coplas de Manrique" (Longfel- 
low), 207. 

"Corn" (Lanier), 270; Study, 272- 

273- 
" Cotton Boll, The" (Timrod), 267. 



374 



hidex 



Couplet, 7. 

" Courtship of Miles Standish " 

(Longfellow), 211, 284. 
Cozzens, F, S., 328. 
Cranch, C. P., 248. 
Crawford, F. M., 361. 
" Crayon Miscellanies " (Irving), 147. 
Crevecoeur, Hector St. John de, 47. 
"Crisis, The" (Paine), 81, 179. 
*' Critic, The," 367. 
Criticism, 330-334. 
"Criticism and Fiction" (Howells), 

359- 
" Croakers, The," 95. 
"Culprit Fay" (Drake), Study, 93- 

95- 
" Currents and Countercurrents " 

(Holmes), 337. 
Curtis, B. R., 203. 
Curtis, G. W., 184; Study, 326-328, 

345- 

Dactyl, 4. 

"Daisy Miller" (James), 360, 366. 

Dana, C. A., 323, 324. 

Dana, R. H., 43, 92-93. 

Dana, R. H., Jr., 162. 

Dante, 14, 207, 212, 248. 

Dartmouth College, i6g, 181, 195. 

Davis, Jefferson, Study, 347-348. 

" Day of Doom " ( Wigglesworth) , 55. 

"Days" (Emerson), Study, 192, 

"Dead, The" (Very) , Selection, 247. 

"Dead Man, A" (O'Reilly), Selec- 
tion, 249. 

Declaration of Independence, 80. 

" Deerslayer " (Cooper) , 134. 

Deland, Margaret, 364. 

" Democracy and Other Addresses " 
(Lowell), 332. 

" Democratic Vistas " (WTiitman), 

255- 
Dennie, Joseph, 179. 
Description, 26, 79, 156-157, 245. 
"Dial, The" (Boston), 188, 248. 
"Dial, The" (Chicago), 367. 
Dialect, 230, 356-357, 361-364. 
" Diamond Wedding " (Stedman), 

264. 
Dickinson, Emily, 357. 
Diction, 16-18, 157. 



Dimeter, 5. 

" Divine Tragedy" (Longfellow) , 210. 

"Diverting History- of John Bull and 

Brother Jonathan" ( Paulding) ,131. 

"DoUiver Romance" (Hawihome), 

293- 

" Doorstep, The " (Stedman), 264. 

Double Rimes, 12. 

Drake, J. R., Study, 93-95, 149. 

Drama, 24, 55-56, 67, 104, 209, 210, 
217-221, 285, 366. 

Dramatic Verse, 15, 55-56, 104, 209, 
210, 217-221, 285. 

" Dream Life" (Mitchell), 3, 338. 

" Dream of a Day " (Percival), 99. 

" Dred " (Stowe) , 300. 

"Dr. Grimshawe's Secret" (Haw- 
thorne) , 293. 

" Dr. Johns " (Mitchell) , 338. 

"Dr. Sevier" (Cable), 362. 

"Drum Taps" (Whitman), 255. 

Dunlap, William, 67, 

"Dutchman's Fireside" (Paulding), 

131- 
Dwight, Timothy, 62, 65. 

"Early Spring in Massachusetts" 

(Thoreau), 320. 
" Earth as Modified by Human 

Action " (Marsh), 329. 
" East Angels " ( Woolson) , 305. 
" Editor's Easy Chair" (Curtis), 327. 
Edwards, Jonathan, 24; Study, 51- 

54.58. 
"Edwin Brothertoft " (Winthrop), 

303- 
Eggleston, Edward, 305, 367. 
Elegy, 15, III. 
Eliot, John, 42. 

"Elsie Venner" (Holmes), 197, 302. 
Emerson, R. W., 6, 24, 184; Study 

of Verse, 187-194, 244, 247, 254, 

290, 308 ; Study of Prose, 314-319, 

322, 323. 
"End of the World" (Eggleston), 

306. 
" English Novel, The " (Lanier), 269. 
"English Traits " (Emerson), 316. 
Epic Verse, 13, 14, 55, 60-61, 64, 92- 

95, 213-217, 226-232, 259, 284-285. 
" Essays " (Emerson), 314-319. 



Index 



375 



"Essays and Reviews" (Whipple), 

331- 
" Eureka " (Poe), 163. 
"Evangeline" (Longfellow), 7, 209, 

211; Study of Selection, 213-217, 

284, 289. 
" Evening Mirror," 116. 
Everett, Edward, 167, 350. 
" Every-day English" (White), 330. 
" Every-day Religion " (Clarke), 325. 
" Every-day Topics " (Holland) , 326. 
" Every Saturday," 262. 
Exposition, 24, 25, 41-43, 51-54, 80- 

84, 162-165, 269, 314-338, 367-368. 

"Fable for Critics" (Lowell), 102, 
117, 135, 225, 229, 315. 

" Fair Barbarian, A " (Burnett), 366. 

" Fairfax " (Cooke), 302. 

"Faith Doctor, The" (Eggleston), 
306. 

" Fall of the House of Usher " (Poe) , 
127, 128. 

" Famous Old People " (Hawthorne), 
290. 

" Fanny " (Halleck), 95. 

" Fanshawe " (Hawthorne), 289. 

"Farewell Address" (Washington), 
80. 

" Fate or God ? " (Hayne) ; Selec- 
tion, 268. 

" Federalist, The," 24 ; Study of 
Selection, 81-84. 

Feminine Rimes, 12, 62, 123. 

"Ferdinand and Isabella" (Pres- 
cott), 160. 

Fiction, 24, 75-79, 126-140, 287-307, 
358-366. 

Field, Eugene, 355, 357. 

Fields, J. T., 291, 326. 

Figurative Diction, 17, 

" Fireside Travels " (Lowell), 332. 

"First Day Thoughts" (Whittier), 
Selection, 239-240. 

Fiske, John, 367. 

"Flight of Youth" (Stoddard), 
Study, 262, 

" Flower and Thorn " (Aldrich), 263. 

" Flower de Luce " (Longfellow), 212. 

"Fool's Prayer, The" (Sill), Selec- 
tion, 283. 



Foot, The, 4, 26. 

"Footprints" (Stoddard), 261. 

" Footsteps of Angels " (Longfellow) • 
206, 208. 

Forensic Oratory, 25, 85, 172, 348-349. 

" Foresters, The " (Wilson), Selec- 
tion, 64. 

" For the Major" (Woolson), 305. 

" Francesca da Rimini" (Boker) 
16, 281, 285. 

"Francis, Marion" (Simms), 129. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 24, 50, 59; 
Study, 68-73, 75. 84, 159. 179- 

Franklin, James, 51. 

"Freedom of the Will" (Edwards), 

51- 
French, Alice, 364. 

French Forms of Verse, 11, 355, 357. 
French Influence, 59. 
Freneau, Philip, Study, 65-67. 
" Fresh Fields " (Burroughs), 368. 
"Fresh Gleanings" (Mitchell), 338. 
" Fringed Gentian " (Bryant), 65. 
Fuller, Margaret, 322. 

Garland, Hamlin, 364. 

Garrison, W. L., 236, 341. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, 35. 

"General History of Virginia" 

(Smith), Selection, 33-35. 
"General Magazine," 179. 
Genung, J. F., 23, 26 (footnote). 
" Georgia Scenes " (Longstreet), 328. 
"Gettysburg Address" (Lincoln), 

Study, 351-352. 
" Gilded Age, The," 366. 
Gilder, R. W., 357. 
" Glance Behind the Curtain " 

(Lowell), 226. 
Godfrey, Thomas, Study, 55-56. 
Goethe (Translations), 249, 278. 
"Gold Bug" (Poe), 127. 
" Gold Foil " (Holland), 326. 
"Golden Legend" (Longfellow), 

210; Study, 217-221, 285. 
"Goldsmith, Life of" (Irving), 148. 
" Good News from Virginia," 37. 
Goodrich, S. G., 161, 289. 
Gosse, Edmund, 15. 
" Grandfather's Chair" (Hawthorne), 

290. 



3/6 



Index 



" Grandissimes " (Cable), 362, 
Grant, U. S., " Personal Memoirs," 

308, 309. 
" Graysons, The" (Eggleston), 306, 
Greeley, Horace, 323, 326. 
" Greenfield Hill " (Dwight), 62. 
"Guardian Angel, The" (Holmes), 

197, 302. 
"Gunnar" (Boyesen), 304. 

" Hail Columbia " (Hopkinson), 65. 
Hale, E. E., 304. 

"Half-Century of Conflict" (Park- 
man), 312. 
Halleck, Fitz-Greene, 93; Study, 95- 

97. 149. 

Halpine, C. G., 259. 

Hamilton, Alexander, Study, 82-84. 

Hampden Sydney College, 181. 

"Hampton Beach" (Whittier), 
Selection, 8, 

"Hanging of the Crane" (Longfel- 
low), 212. 

"Hannah Thurston" (Taylor), 303. 

Hardy, A. S., 365. 

" Harper's Magazine," 180, 327, 338, 

359- 
" Harper's Weekly," 327. 
Harris, J. C, 364. 
Harte, F. B., 356, 361. 
" Hartford Courant," 338. 
Harvard College, 45, 164, 167, i8i, 

188, 194, 195, 196, 200, 206, 223, 

224, 233, 311, 342, 345. 
"Hasty Pudding" (Barlow), 63. 
Hathorne, John, 288. 
Hathorne, William, 288. 
" Haverhill Gazette," 237. 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 181, 184, 187, 

206, 209, 224, 287 ; Study, 288- 

298, 307. 323. 369- 

" Hawthorne and Other Poems " 
(Stedman), 264. 

Hay, John, 356. 

Hayne, P. H., 180; Selection, 267- 
268. 

"Hazel Blossoms" (Whittier), 241, 

"Heart of New England" (Sted- 
man), 264. 

"Heartsease and Rue" (Lowell), 
225. 



"Heathen Chinee" (Harte), 356, 

361. 
Heine, H. (Translation), 259. 
Henry, Patrick, 85. 
Heroic Verse, 6, 26, 44, 64. 
Hexameter, 5, 209, 211, 215-216. 
"Hiawatha" (Longfellow), 6, 13, 164, 

210-211, 237, 284. 
Higginson, T. W., 196. 
Hildreth, R., 307. 
Hill, A. S., 26 (footnote). 
" Hilt to Hilt" (Cooke), 302. 
"His Majesty Myself" (Baker), 303. 
"Historical Discourse" (Emerson), 

315- 

Histor}', 23, 32-41, 46-50, 67, 134, 
147, 159-162, 307-312, 366. 

"History of All Nations" (Good- 
rich), 161. 

" History of New England " (Hannah 
Adams), 67. 

" History of New England " (Pal- 
frey), 308. 

" History of North Carolina " (Law- 
son), 46. 

" History of Plymouth Plantation " 
(Bradford), Selection, 38-39. 

"History of Spanish Literature" 
(Ticknor), 164. 

" History of the Conspiracy of Pon- 
tiac" (Parkman), 312. 

"History of the Navy" (Cooper), 

134- 

" History of the People of the United 
States" (MacMaster), 367. 

" History of the Rise of the Dutch 
Republic" (Motley), 310. 

" History of the United Nether- 
lands ' (Motley), 310. 

" History of the United States " 
(Bancroft), 160. 

"History of the United States" 
(Hildreth), 307. 

"History of Virginia" (Beverly), 
46. 

Holland, J. G., 258, 284, 304, 326. 

Holmes, O. W., 3, 6, 9, 10, 31, 43, 
98 ; Study of Verse, 195-206, 207, 
244, 284, 302, 317; Study of Prose, 

336-337- 
"Home as Found" (Cooper), 133, 



i 



Index 



177 



" Home Journal," 262. 

Homer, Bryant's Translation, 6, 14. 

"Home, Sweet Home" (Payne), 
103, 104. 

" Honey Bee" (Freneau), 65. 

" Hoosier Schoolmaster" (Eggles- 
ton), 305. 

Hopkins, Mark, 325. 

Hopkins, Samuel, 84, 165, 301. 

Hopkinson, Francis, 64. 

Hopkinson, Joseph, 65. 

" Horace Chase " (Woolson), 305. 

" Horse-Shoe Robinson " (Ken- 
nedy), 131. 

" House of the Seven Gables " (Haw- 
thorne), 288, 291, 294. 

" Howadji in Syria" (Curtis), 328. 

Howard, Bronson, 366. 

Howelis, W. D., 359-360, 366. 

" How Old Brown Took Harper's 
Ferry " (Stedman) , 264. 

" Hudibras" (Butler), 40, 59. 

Hudson, H. N., 330. 

"Humble Romance, A" (Wilkins), 

363- 
Humorists, 328-329, 365. 
," Humorous Poems " (Holmes) , 197. 
" Hurrygraphs " (Willis), 163. 
"Hymn to Death" (Bryant), 118. 
" Hymn to the Night" (Longfellow), 

208 ; Study, 221-223. 
"Hyperion" (Longfellow), 208. 

Iambic Verse, 4, 60-61, 66, 95, 122, 

189. 
"Ichabod" (Whittier), 239. 
Idyll, The, 242, 284. 
" Idylls of the King," 227. 
" Ik Marvel," 3, 338. 
" Illustrious Providences" (Mather), 

48. 
" I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord" 

(Dwight), 62. 
"Inaugural Addresses" (Lincoln), 

350- 
" Independent, The," 341. 
" Independent Reflector," 46. 
"Indian Fairy Book" (Schoolcraft), 

164. 
Indian in Fiction, 140, 301. 
"Influence of Jesus" (Brooks), 343. 



"In His Name" (Hale), 304. 

" Initial, Daemonic, and Celestial 

Love" (Emerson), 194. 
" In School Days " (Whittier), 241. 
" Inscription for the Entrance to a 

Wood" (Bryant), 107. 
"Inside, A Chronicle of Secession" 

(Baker), 303. 
" In the Harbor " (Longfellow), 212. 
" In the Stranger People's Country'' 

(Murfree), 363. 
" In War Time" (Whittier), 240. 
Irving, Washington, 17 ; Study, 142- 

158, 161, 206, 315. 
Irving, William, 144. 
" Israel Freyer " (Stedman), 264. 
" Israfel" (Poe), 117. 
" Italian Journeys " (Howelis), 359. 

Jackson, " H. H.," 282, 301. 
James, Henry, 360, 366. 
Jamestown, 32, 37. 
Jay, John, 82. 
Jefferson, Joseph, 366. 
Jefferson, Thomas, 80. 
"Jephthah's Daughter" (Willis), 102. 
"Jesuits in North America" (Park- 
man), 312. 
Jewett, S. O., 364. 
"John Brent" (Winthrop), 303. 
" John Godfrey's Fortunes " (Taylor), 

303- 
"John March, Southerner" (Cable), 

362. 
"John of Barneveldt "(Motley), 310. 
Johns Hopkins University, 182, 269. 
"Jo's Boys" (Alcott), 306. 
Journalism, 46, 178-180, 
"Julian" (Ware), 129. 
"Jupiter Lights" (Woolson), 305. 
Juvenile Literature, 161-162, 290-291, 

305, 306-307, 365-366. 

"Kathrina" (Holland), 259, 284. 
" Kavanagh " (Longfellow), 209. 
Kennedy, J. P., 126, 130-131. 
" King's Bell " (Stoddard), 261. 
King's College, 181. 
" King's Missive " (Whittier), 241. 
"Knickerbocker's History of New 
York" (Irving), 144-145. 



378 



Index 



" Knickerbocker Magazine," 179, 207. 
" Koningsmarke" (Paulding), 131. 

" Lady or the Tiger, The" (Stockton), 

365. 

" Lancers, The " (Payne), 104. 

" Language and the Study of Lan- 
guage" (Whitney), 330. 

Language Study, 329-330. 

Lanier, Sidney, Study, 268-277. 

Lanier, Mary D., 270. 

Larcom, Lucy, 248. 

" Lars, a Pastoral of Norway " (Tay- 
lor), 279, 285. 

"Last Leaf, The" (Holmes), Study, 
197-200. 

"Last of the Mohicans" (Cooper), 

134- 
"Last Poems" (Lowell), 225. 
"Latest Literary Essays" (Lowell), 

332. 
Lawson, John, 46. 
Lazarus, Emma, Selection, 259. 
"Leather Stocking and Silk" 

(Cooke), 302. 
" Leaves of Grass " (Whitman), 255, 

331. 

"Lectures on Biography" (Emer- 
son), 315. 

" Lectures on the English Language " 
(Marsh), 329. 

" Lectures to Young Men " (Beecher) , 

342. 
" Legend of Brittany" (Lowell), 226, 

284. 
" Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (Irving), 

145- 
"Leicester" (Dunlap),67. 
" Letters of an American Farmer," 

47- 

"Letters to the Joneses" (Holland), 
326. 

"Letters to Young People" (Hol- 
land), 326. 

" Liberator, The," 236, 

" Liberty Bell, The," 224. 

"Liberty Tree, The" (Hawthorne), 
290. 

Lieber, Francis, 326. 

"Life and Death of John of Barne- 
veldt" (Motley), 310. 



" Life of Jesus the Christ " (Beecher), 

342. 
" Light of the World " (Brooks) , 343. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 25, 185, 235, 257, 

310, 329, 332; Study, 348-352, 359. 
" Lincoln, Life of" (Howells), 359. 
Line, The, 4, 5, 26, 66-67, 122, 205, 

215-216. 
" Linwoods, The" (Sedgwick), 130. 
"Lionel Lincoln" (Cooper), 136. 
" Lippincott's Magazine," 270. 
"Literature and Life" (Whipple), 

331- 
" Literature of the Age of Elizabeth " 

(Whipple), 331. 
" Little Book of Western Verse " 

(Field), 355. 
" Little Boy Blue " (Field), 357. 
" Little Lord Fauntleroy " (Burnett), 

366. 
" Little Men " (Alcott), 306. 
" Little Women " (Alcott), 306. 
Livingston, William, 46. 
Locke, D. R., 329. 

" Loiterings of Travel " (Willis), 163. 
Longfellow, H. W., Selected Lines 

and Stanzas, 5, 6, 7, 8; Sonnet, 11, 

13, 15, 164, 194; Study, 206-222, 

281, 284, 285, 289, 356, 369. 
Longstreet, A. B., 328. 
Loose Sentences, 19. 
" Lotus-Eating" (Curtis), 328. 
Lowell, Charles, 223. 
Lowell, J. R., 13, 14, 24, 98, 151, 194; 

Extracts from " Fable for Critics," 

102, 117, 135; Study of Verse, 

223-235, 244, 257, 284, 315, 328; 

Study of Prose, 332-336, 349. 
" Luck of Roaring Camp " (Harte), 

361. 
"Lucy Books" (Abbott), 162. 
" Lyrical and Other Poems " (Simms), 

129, 
Lyric Verse, Defined, 14-15, 45, 64- 

67, 95-103, 106-125, 187-205, 221- 

223, 226, 232-235, 244-250, 255- 

284. 355-357- 

Mabie, H. W., 367. 

MacMaster, J. B., 367. 

" Madelon " (Wilkins), 363. 



Index 



379 



Madison, James, 82. 
Magazines, 179-180, 258. 
"Magnalia Christi Americana" 

(Mather) , 49. 
" Mahomet and his Successors " 

(Irving), 148, 150. 
" Maine Woods, The" (Thoreau), 

319- 

" Man and Nature " (Marsh), 329. 

Mann, Horace, 181. 

"Manuscript found in a Bottle" 

(Poe), 126. 
" Man Without a Country " (Hale), 

304. 
"Marble Faun" (Hawthorne), 292, 

295- 
" Marble Prophecy " (Holland), 259. 
" Marco Bozzaris " (Halleck), 95. 
"Mardi" (Melville), 288. 
" Marguerite " (Whittier), 241. 
" Mark Twain," 365, 366. 
Marsh, G. P., 329. 
Marshall, John, 67. 
" Marshes of Glynn " (Lanier), Study, 

271. 
" Martin Faber " (Simms), 129. 
"Masque of the Gods" (Taylor), 

279. 
" Masque of Pandora " (Longfellow), 

212. 
Mass, 20. 

Mather, Cotton, 49. 
Mather, Increase, 48. 
Matthews, Brander, 356, 366. 
"Maud Muiler " (Whittier), 7, 

240. 
" May Day " (Emerson), 194, 
" Mayflower, The" (Stowe), 298, 
McCosh, James, 325. 
" McFingal " (Trumbull), Study, 59- 

62. 
McMaster, G. H., 103. 
" Mechanism and Morals " (Holmes), 

337. 
" Meeting, The " (Whittier), 241. 
Melville, Herman, 287. 
" Memoranda during the War " 

(Whitman), 255. 
" Mercedes and Other Lyrics " (Al- 

drich), 263. 
" Metamora " (Stone), 104. 



"Michael Angelo " (Longfellow), 

212, 285. 
"Mignonette" (Bunner), Selection, 

12, 
" Miles O'Reilly," 259. 
" Minister's Wooing, The " (Stowe), 

300, 301. 
" Miriam " (Whittier), 241. 
" Mistress of the Manse " (Holland), 

259, 284. 
Mitchell, D. G., 180, 338. 
Mitchell, S. W., 365. 
"Moby Dick" (Melville), 288. 
"Modern Instance, A" (Howells), 

359- 
" Mogg Megone " (Whittier), 237. 
" Montcalm and Wolfe " (Parkman), 

312. 
" Moral Uses of Dark Things " 

(Bushnell), 325. 
" More Wonders of the Invisible 

World" (Calef), 50. 
" Morituri Salutamus " (Longfellow), 

212. 
Morris, George P., 102, 149. 
"Mortal Antipathy, A" (Holmes), 

197, 302. 
Morton, Thomas, 40. 
" Mose Evans " (Baker), 303. 
" Mosses from an Old Manse " 

(Hawthorne), 290. 
Motley, J. L., 23 ; Study, 309-311, 

312, 328. 
" Mourt's Relation," 40. 
Movement in Narration, 139, 246. 
" Mr. Isaacs " (Crawford), 361. 
Mulford, Elisha, 325. 
" Murders in the Rue Morgue " 

(Poe), 127. 
Murfree, M. N., 306, 362. 
Murray, Lindley, 85. 
" My Country, 'tis of Thee " (Smith), 

65. 203. 
"My Lady Pocahontas" (Cooke), 

303- 
" My life is like the summer rose " 

(Wilde), 102. 
" My Literary Passions " (Howells), 

359- 
"My Study Windows" (Lowell), 

332, 333- 



38o 



Index 



"My Summ^ in a Garden" 

(Warner), 338. 
" Myth of Hiawatha " (Schoolcraft), 

164. 

Narration, 23, 25, 33-41, 46-50, 67- 
79, 126-162, 287-312, 358-367. 

" Nation, The " (Mulford), 325. 

" National Era," 299. 

" National Lyrics" (Whittier), 240. 

" National Ode " (Taylor), 279. 

" Nature " (Emerson), 188, 290, 315; 
Study of Selection, 318-319. 

"Nature and Elements of Poetry" 
(Stedman), 367. 

"Nature and the Supernatural" 
(Bushnell), 325. 

" Nature Lyric," 204. 

" Neighbor Jackwood " (Trow- 
bridge), 305. 

"New England, History of" (H. 
Adams), 67. 

"New England, History of" (Pal- 
firey), 308. 

" New England Nun, A " (Wilkins), 

363- 

New England Poets, 187-252. 

" New England's Crisis " (Thomp- 
son), 55. 

" New England Tragedies " (Long- 
fellow), 210. 

" New England Weekly Re\aew," 237. 

"New Gospel of Peace" (White), 

330- 

Newspapers (first established), 46. 
"New Timothy, The" (Baker), 

303- 

" Nicholas Minturn " (Holland), 304. 

" Nile Notes " (Curtis), 328. 

" Nina Gordon " (Stowe), 300. 

Normal Schools, 181. 

Norman Diction, 17. 

" North American Review," 93, 107, 
115, 179, 224, 315. 

" North Carolina, History of " (Law- 
son) , 46. 

Norton, C. E., 224. 

Novel, The, 24, 130-140, 287, 288, 
328, 338, 358-364. 

" November Boughs " (Whitman), 
255- 



" Observations," etc. (Edwards), Se- 
lection, 53. 

Occasional Verse, 98, 200, 212. 

" Octave Thanet," 364. 

Octette, 9, 226. 

Ode, The, 14, 95, 226, 233-235, 279. 

Oglethorpe College, 268, 

" Old Clock on the Stairs " (Long- 
fellow), 209. 

" Old Continental, The " (Paulding), 

131- 

" Old Creole Days " (Cable), 362. 
" Old English Dramatists " (Lowell), 

332. 
"Old-fashioned Girl, An" (Alcott), 

306. 
" Old Homestead, The " (Thomp- 
son), 366. 
" Old Oaken Bucket " (Woodworth), 

103. 
" Old Sergeant, The" (Wilson), 259. 
" Oldtown Folks " (Stowe), 301. 
" Oliver Goldsmith, Life of " (Irving), 

148. 
" Oliver Oldschool," 179. 
"Omoo" (Melville), 288. 
" On a Bust of Dante " (Parsons), 

248. 
" On a Certain Condescension in 

Foreigners " (Lowell), 332. 
" One Hoss Shay, The " (Holmes) , 3. 
" One Sweetly Solemn Thought " 

(Car>-), 281.' 
"Opportunity" (Sill), 282. 
Oratory, 25, 85-87, 167-172, 328, 340- 

353. 368. 

O'Reilly, J. B., Selection, 249. 

" Oriental and Linguistic Studies " 
(Whitney), 330. 

" Origin and Histor}' of the English 
Language" (Marsh), 329. 

" Ornithological Biography " (Au- 
dubon), 165. 

Osgood, F. S., 98. 

Ossoli, Margaret Fuller, 322-324. 

Otis, James, 85. 

" Our Hundred Days in Europe " 
(Holmes), 196. 

"Our Old Home " (Hawthorne), 292. 

"Outlooks on Society, Literature, 
and Politics " (Whipple), 331. 



htdex 



381 



" Outre-Mer " (Longfellow), 207, 
" O Vast Rondure " (Whitman), 255. 
" Over the Teacups " (Holmes), 196, 

337- 
Ovid, Translation by Sandys, 36. 

Paine, Thomas, 81, 179. 

Palfrey, J. G., 308. 

" Pan in Wall Street " (Stedman), 

264, 
" Panorama, The " (Whittier), 240, 
" Papers in Literature and Art " 

(Margaret Fuller), 323. 
Paragraph, The, 20-22. 
Parker, Gilbert, 365. 
Parker, Theodore, 324. 
Parkman, F., 23; Study, 311-312, 

365. 
Parsons, T. W., 248. 
Parton, James, 308. 
" Passages from Note-Books" (Haw- 
thorne), 293. 
" Passe Rose " (Hardy), 365. 
Pastoral Poetry, 14. 
" Pathfinder, The " (Cooper), 134. 
Paulding, J. K., 131, 144, 149. 
Payne, J. H., 102-103, 104. 
"Pearl of Orr's Island" (Stowe), 

301. 
Peirce, Benjamin, 202. 
" Pencillings by the Way " (Willis), 

163. 
" Pennsylvania Freeman," 237. 
" Pennsylvania Magazine," 179. 
" Pennsylvania Pilgrim " (Whittier), 

241. 
Pentameter, 5, 122. 
Percival, J. G., Study, 99-101. 
Periodic Sentences, 19. 
" Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant," 

308. 
" Peter Parley," 161, 289. 
Peters, Phillis W., 65. 
" Petroleum V. Nasby,'' 329, 
" Philip the Second " (Prescott), 160. 
Phillips, Wendell, 43, 328, 341, 345. 
" Philosophic Solitude " (Livingston), 

46. 
Piatt, J. J., 359. 
" Picture of St. John" (Taylor), 278, 

285. 



Pierpont, John, 99. 

Pierpont, Sarah (described by Ed- 
wards), 53. 

" Pike County Ballads" (Hay), 356. 

Pilgrims, The, 37. 

" Pilot, The " (Cooper), 134. 

" Pilot, The Boston," 249. 

" Pioneer, The " (Magazine), 224. 

"Pioneers, The" (Cooper), 134. 
Study of Selection, 136-140. 

" Pioneers of France in the New 
World" (Parkman), 312. 

" Pitcher of Mignonette " (Bunner), 

357- 

Plymouth, Settlement of, 37. 

" Plymouth Plantation, History of" 
(Bradford), Study, 38-39. 

Pocahontas Story, 34. 

Poe, E. A., 104 ; Study of Verse, 115- 
124, 149, 161 ; Study of Prose, 126- 
129, 162-163, 224, 315. 

" Poems Here at Home " (Riley) , 355. 

"Poems, Lyric and Idyllic" (Sted- 
man) , 264. 

" Poems, Narrative, Dramatic, and 
Lyric" (Emma Lazarus), 259. 

" Poems Now First Collected " (Sted- 
man), 264. 

"Poems of the Orient" (Taylor), 
278. 

" Poems of Two Friends," 359. 

" Poems on Slavery " (Longfellow), 
209. 

" Poet at the Breakfast Table " 
(Holmes), 337. 

"Poetical Illustrations" (Holmes), 
196. 

Poetic Diction, 17. 

"Poetic Principle, The" (Poe), 163. 

" Poet Lore," 368. 

Poetry (defined), 3. 

"Poetry, a Metrical Essay " (Holmes), 
6. 

" Poets of America " (Stedman) , 367. 

" Politian " (Poe), 104. 

" Political Essays " (Lowell), 332. 

Political Oratory, 25 , 165-172, 345-353- 

" Poor Richard " (Franklin), 51, 69. 

" Portfolio, The," 179. 

" Potiphar Papers" (Curtis), 328. 

"Prairie, The" (Cooper), 134. 



382 



Index 



"Precaution" (Cooper), 133. 
"Prescience" (Aldrich), Selection, 

263. 
Prescott, W. H., 23 ; Study, 160-161, 

308, 309. 
" Present State of Virginia" (Blair), 

46. 
"Prince Deucalion" (Taylor), 279, 

1285. 
"Prince of Parthia " (Godfrey), 

Study, 55-56. 
Princeton College, 65, 181. 
Printing Press, Established, 45. 
"Problem, The" (Emerson), 6, 

193- 

"Proem" (Whittier), Study, 238. 

"Professor at the Breakfast Table" 
(Holmes), 337. 

"Professor's Story" (Holmes), 302. 

" Prophet, The " (Taylor), 279. 

" Prophet of the Great Smoky Moun- 
tains " (Murfree), 363. 

Prose Form, 2, 16. 

Prose Literature Classified, 22-23. 

"Prudence Palfrey" (Aldrich), 305. 

" Prue and I " (Curtis), 328. 

" Psalm of Life " (Longfellow) , 8, 207, 
208. 

" Public Occurrences," 46. 

Pulpit Oratory, 25, 165, 340-344. 

" Purchas's Pilgrims," 35. 

"Puritan and his Daughter, The" 
(Paulding), 131. 

Puritans, The, 37. 

" Putnam's Magazine," 180, 327. 

"Quadrupeds of America" (Audu- 
bon), 165. 
Quatrain, 8, 222. 

"Queen of Sheba" (Aldrich), 305. 
Quintette, 8. 

"Ramona" (" H. H." Jackson), 301. 
" Randolph of^Roanoke " (Whittier), 

239- 
"Raven, The" (Poe), 116, 117. 

Read, T. B., 281. 

Realism, 130, 228, 243, 273, 305, 355, 

358-364- 
" Reaper and the Flowers " (Long- 
fellow), 208. 



" Recollecdons of Eminent Men" 

(Whipple), 331. 
'Red Rover, The" (Cooper), 134. 
"Redwood" (Sedgwick), 130. 
Religious Life in America, 185. 
"Representative Men" (Emerson), 

316. 
"Republic of God" (Mulford), 325. 
"Resignation" (Longfellow), 209. 
" Reveries of a Bachelor " (^litchell), 

338. 
" Review of Militar\- Operations " 

(Livingston), 46. 
" Rhode Island Almanac," 51. 
"Rhodora" (Emerson), 191. 
"Rhymes of Travel" (Taylor), 278. 
Rhythm, 2, 157-158, 220, 246, 254, 256. 
" Right Hand of Fellowship " (Emer- 
son), 315. 
Riley. J. W., 355, 357. 
Rime, 2, 12, 62, 123, 222, 271, 275. 
Ripley, George, 184, 323, 324. 
"Rip Van Winkle" (Irving), 145, 

146, 150; Study, 151-158. 
" Rise and Fall of the Confederate 

Government" (Davis), 347. 
" Rise of Silas Lapham " (Howells), 

359. 

" Rise of the Dutch Republic " (Mot- 
ley), 310. 

" Rob of the Bowl " (Kennedy), 131. 

"Rodman the Keeper" (Woolson), 

305- 
"Rollo Books" (Abbott), 162. 
Romance, 24, 75-79, 125-129, 269, 

288-297, 302, 304, 358- 
" Roman Singer, A " (Crawford) , 361. 
" Rural Letters" (Willis), 163. 
Rush, Benjamin, 84. 
Rutgers College, 181. 

"Sabbath Scene, A" (Whittier) , 239. 

" Saint Gregory's Quest" (Whittier), 
241. 

" Salmagundi " (Irving) ,131, 144, 149. 

"Sandalphon" (Longfellow), Ex- 
tract, 8. 

Sandys, George, 36. 

" Saracinesca " (Crawford), 361. 

" Sargasso Weed " (Stedman), Selec- 
tion, 265. 



Index 



383 



Sargent, J. O., 197. 

" Satanstoe" (Cooper), 136. 

" Saturday Visitor," 126. 

" Saturday Evening Post," 278. 

Saxe, J, G., 248. 

Saxon Diction, 17. 

"Scarlet Letter" (Hawthorne), 291, 
294 ; Study, 295-298. 

Schoolcraft, H. R., 164, 210. 

" Scienceof English Verse " (Lanier), 
269. 

Scientific Thought, 182. 

" Scribner's Monthly," 180, 258, 326. 

" Seaside and Fireside " (Longfel- 
low), 209. 

Sedgwick, C. M., 130, 305. 

"Seneca Lake" (Percival), Study, 
«99-ioo. 

Sentence, The, 18-20, 84, 157. 

Septette, 8. 

"Septimius Felton " (Hawthorne), 

293- 
Sestette, 8. 
Sestet, loi. 

" Seven Oaks" (Holland), 304. 
Sewall, Samuel, 47, 62. 
"Sheridan's Ride" (Read), 281. 
Short Story, The, 358. 
Sigourney, L, H., 98. 
Sill, E. R., Selection, 282-284. 
Simms, W. G., 129, 266, 302. 
" Simple Cobbler of Agawam " 

(Ward), Extracts, 43. 
Single Stanza Forms, 10. 
" Sinners in the Hands of an Angry 

God" (Edwards), Extract, 52. 
"Sir Launfal" (Lowell), 13; Study, 

227-229, 232, 284. 
"Sisters' Tragedy" (Aldrich), 263, 

284. 
"Skeleton in Armor" (Longfellow), 

209. 
"Sketch Book" (Irving), 142, 145, 

146, 147, 150; Study, 151-158, 206. 
Slavery Question, 166, 184-185. 
Smith, John, Study, 32-35. 
Smith, S. F., 203. 
Smyth, E. C, 53. 
"Snowbound" (Whittier), 6, 237, 

241 ; Study, 242-244, 284. 
"Snow Image" (Hawthorne), 291. 



Social Problems, 186. 

"Society and Solitude" (Emerson), 

316. 
"Song of the Camp" (Taylor), 

Selection, 279-280. 
"Songs from the Southern Seas" 

(O'Reilly), 249, 
"Songs in Many Keys" (Holmes), 

197. 
" Songs of a Semite " (Lazarus) , 259. 
"Songs of Labor" (Whittier), 239. 
" Songs of Many Seasons " (Holmes) , 

197. 
" Songs of Summer" (Stoddard), 261. 
Sonnet, The, 10, 14, loi, 247, 268, 355. 
"Soundings from the Atlantic" 

(Holmes), 337. 
" Southern Literary Messenger," 126, 

180. 
" Spanish Literature " (Ticknor), 164. 
"Spanish Student, The" (Longfel- 
low), 209, 285. 
Sparks, Jared, 159. 
" Sparrowgrass Papers," 328. 
Spenserian Stanza, 9, 109. 
" Spinner, The " (" H. H."), 282. 
Spondee, 4, 122. 
Sprague, Charles, 97. 
" Springfield Republican," 258, 326. 
" Spy, The" (Cooper), 134. 
Stanza, 7-9, 27, 66, 205, 226. 
Stanzaic Verse, 6, 26. 
" Star and the Water Lily " (Holmes), 

Extract, 9. 
" Star Papers" (Beecher), 342. 
Stedman, Arthur, 255, 
Stedman, E. C, 124, 261 ; Selection, 

263-265, 270, 285, 367. 
Stephens, A. H., 346. 
"Stillwater Tragedy " (Aldrich), 305. 
Stockton, F. R., 365. 
Stoddard, R. H., Selection, 261-262. 
Stone, J. A., 104. 

"Story of a Bad Boy " (Aldrich), 305. 
" Story of Kennet " (Taylor), 303. 
Story, W. W., 248. 
Stowe, H. B., 84 ; Study, 298-301, 340. 
Strachey, William, Selection, 35-36. 
Strophe, 10. 
Stychic Verse, 6, 7, 26. 
Style, 22. 



384 



Index 



"Suburban Sketches" (Howells), 

359- 
"Success and its Conditions" 

(Whipple), 331. 
Sumner, Charles, 345. 
Sunday-schools, 178. 
" Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands " 

(Stowe), 300. 
" Sunthin' in the Pastoral Line" 

(Lowell), Study, 230-232. 
"Surrey of Eagle's Nest" (Cooke), 

302. 
"Swallow Barn" (Kennedy), 131. 
" Sword and Distaff" (Simms), 129. 
"Sylphs of the Seasons" (AUston), 

103. 
"Symphony, The" (Lanier), Study, 

273-277. 
"Symposium, The," 188. 

"Table Talk" (Alcott), 322. 

"Tablets" (Alcott), 322. 

"Tales of a Traveller" (Irving), 
146. 

" Tales of a Wayside Inn " (Long- 
fellow), 13, 211, 241, 284. 

"Tales of the Grotesque and Ara- 
besque" (Poe), 127. 

"Tales of Three Cities" (James), 
360. 

"Tamerlane and Other Poems" 
(Poe), 116. 

"Tanglewood Tales" (Hawthorne), 
292. 

Taylor, Bayard, 270; Study, 277-280, 
281, 285, 303. 

" Ten Great Religions " (Clarke) , 325. 

"Ten Times One is Ten" (Hale), 

304- 
"Tent on the Beach" (Whittier), 

241. 

Tetrameter, 5, 60-61, 66, 95, 189, 211. 

" Thanatopsis " (Bryant), 6, 15,107; 
Study, 109-115, 118, 142. 

Thaxter, Celia, 248. 

"Their Wedding Journey" (How- 
ells), 359- 

Thomas, Edith M., 357. 

Thompson, Benjamin, 55. 

Thompson, Denman, 366. 

Thompson, J. R., 180. 



Thoreau, H. D., 187, 314; Study, 
319-321 ; Lowell's Criticism, 333- 
336, 368. 

"Three Books of Song" (Longfel- 
low), 212. 

Ticknor, George, 164. 

"Tiger Lilies" (Lanier), 269. 

Timrod, Henry, 180; Selection, 266- 
267. 

"Token, The," 181, 289. 

"To the Man-of-War Bird" (Whit- 
man), Study, 256. 

Transcendentalism, 183-184, 187, 247, 
248, 314-324, 326. 

" Tribune, N. Y.," 278, 323, 324, 327. 

Trimeter, 5. 

Triolet, 12, 357. 

Triplet, 7. 

Trochee, 4, 95, 122, 211, 233. 

Trowbridge, J. T., 305. 

"True Grandeur of Nations " (Sum- 
ner), 346. 

"True Relation" (Smith), 33. 

"True Reportory " (Strachey), 
Study, 35-36. 

"True Stories" (Hawthorne), 291. 

Trumbull, John, Study, 59-62. 

"Trumps" (Curtis), 328. 

Tuckerman, H. T., 330. 

"Twice-told Tales" (Hawthorne), 
290. 

" Two Admirals " (Cooper), 134. 

" Two Rabbis " (Whittier), 241. 

"Two Years Before the Mast" 
(Dana), 162. 

Tyler, M. C, 46. 

Tyler, Royall, 67. 

"Typee" (Melville), 288. 

"Ulalume" (Poe), 117. 

" Ultima Thule " (Longfellow), 212. 

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" (Stowe), 
Study, 299-300, 301. 

"Under the Evening Lamp " (Stod- 
dard), 261. 

"Under the Willows" (Lowell), 233. 

" United States Gazette," 278. 

Universities, 182. 

"Venetian Life" (Howells), 359. 
Vers de Societe, 11, 357. 



Index 



385 



Verse, 2-15, 43-45. 55-56, 59-67, 91- 

125, 187-285, 355-357. 
Verse Form, 3-15. 
Very, Jones, Selection, 247, 
" Vicarious Sacrifice " (Bushnell), 

325- 
"Victorian Poets" (Stedman), 367. 
" Views Afoot" (Taylor), 278. 
" Virginia Comedians " (Cooke) , 302. 
" Virginia, General History of" 

(Smith), Study, 33-35. 
"Virginia, History of" (Beverly), 

46. 
"Virginia, Present State of" (Blair), 

46. 
" Virginia, Settlement of," 32. 
Virginia, University of, 116. 
"Vision of Columbus" (Barlow), 

63. 
" Vision of Echard " (Whittier) , 241. 
"Vision of Sir Launfal " (Lowell), 

Study, 227-229, 232, 
"Voices of Freedom" (Whittier), 

237- 
" Voices of the Night " (Longfellow) , 

208. 
"Voltaire" (Parton), 308, 
"Voluntaries" (Emerson), Extract, 

193- 



"Wake Robin" (Burroughs), 368. 

"Walden" (Thoreau), Study, 319- 
322. 

" Wanted, a Man " (Stedman), 264. 

"War between the States" (Steph- 
ens), 347. 

"Ward, Artemus," 328. 

Ward, E. S. Phelps, 364. 

Ward, Nathaniel, 42, 43. 

Ware, William, 129. 

Warner, C. D., 338, 366. 

" Warren's Address " (Pierpont), 99. 

Washington, Farewell Address, 80, 

" Washington, Life of" (Irving), 148, 
150; (Marshall), 67; (Paulding), 
131; (Sparks), 159; (Weems), 67. 

"Waterfowl, Lines to a" (Bryant), 

65- 
"Water Witch, The " (Cooper), 134. 
Webbe, John, 179. 
2C 



Webster, Daniel, 25; Study, 168- 

172, 239, 331, 340. 
Webster, Noah, 84, 
Weems, M. L,, 67. 
Wendell, Barrett, 26; footnote, 345. 
West Point, 116. 

" Westward Ho ! " (Paulding), 131. 
" Wheel of Time " (James), 360, 
" Where the Battle was Fought " 

(Murfree), 363. 
Whipple, E. P., 64, 85; Study, 330, 

331- 
"White Jacket" (Melville), 287. 
White, Maria, 223. 
White, R. G., 330. 
Whitman, Walt, 2; Study, 253-258, 

270, 331. 
Whitney, W. D., 329, 
Whittaker, Alexander, Selection, 37. 
Whittier, Elizabeth, 241. 
Whittier, J. G., Extracts, 6-8, 15, 50, 

73, 224; Study, 236-246, 270, 284, 

356, 369- 

Wigglesworth, Michael, 55. 

Wilde, R. H., 102. 

"Wild Honeysuckle" (Freneau), 
Study, 65-67. 

Wilkins, M. E., 363. 

William and Mary College, 46, 181. 

"William Wilson" (Poe), 116, 127. 

Williams College, 106. 

Williams, Roger, 41. 

Willis, N. P., loi, 149, 163. 

Wilson, Alexander, Selection, 63-64, 
84. 

Wilson, Forceythe, 259. 

" Wing and Wing " (Cooper) , 134. 

Winslow, Edward, 40. 

Winsor, Justin, 367. 

" Winter Sunshine " (Burroughs), 
368. 

Winthrop, John, 41. 

Winthrop, R. C. 345. 

Winthrop, Theodore, 302, 303, 

Wirt, William, 85. 

" Wolfert's Roost" (Irving), 148. 

" Woman in the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury " (Margaret Fuller), 323. 

"Wonder Book" (Hawthorne), 291. 

"Woodman, Spare that Tree" 
(Morris), 102. 



386 



Index 



"Woodnotes" (Emerson), 193. 

Woodworth, Samuel, 103. 

Woolman, John, Study, 73-75. 

Woolsey, T, D., 326. 

Woolson, C. F,, 304. 

Worcester, J. E., 288. 

"Words and their Uses" (White), 

330. 

"World Soul" (Emerson), Extract, 
194. 

"Wreck of the Hesperus" (Longfel- 
low), 15, 208. 

" Wyndham Towers" (Aldrich),263 
284. 



"Ximena" (Taylor), 278. 

Yale College, 59, 62, 63, 99, 132, 181. 
"Yale Lectures " (Beecher), 342. 
"Yale Lectures" (Brooks), 343. 
"Yankee at King Arthur's Court" 

(Clemens), 365. 
"Year's Life, A" (Lowell), 223. 
" Yemassee, The " (Simms), 129. 
"Yesterdays with Authors" (Fields), 

326. 

"Zenobia" (Ware), 129. 



AMERICAN LITERATURE 



BY 



KATHARINE LEE BATES, 

Wellesley College. 
izmo. Cloth. Price, i.oo, net. 



COMMENTS. 



" It is a valuable addition to that form of literature which is half bio- 
graphical and half critical, and wholly instructive. We do not recall any 
handbook of American Literature which breathes so distinctly the spirit and 
purpose of the present as this." — N. V. Home Journal. 

" I have no hesitation in pronouncing this thoughtful sketch that you 
have just published to be the best written volume that I have ever seen. 
The author has knowledge; the book proceeds from unusually full and 
accurate acquaintance with American Letters. The suggestions for class- 
room use seem to me admirable." — Albert H. Smyth, Cetttral High 
School f Philadelphia, Pa. 

" I am delighted with the sympathetic treatment and critical insight of 
Bates' American Literature. The uncommon excellence of its style makes 
it a part of the literature it describes." — Caroline Ladd Crew, Friends' 
School, Wilmington, Del. 

" It is a pleasure to pick up such a neat little volume. It is hard to lay 
it down after one begins. The combination of history and literature is very 
happy and the development of literature, side by side with the material and 
political progress of the country, cannot fail to be of great service to teacher 
and student." — Frederick A. Vogt, Priticipal Central High School, 
Buffalo, N. V. 

" I have no doubt this book will be a great success, filling well a gap; 
for no small book that I am familiar with compares as well as this the 
authors who belong together: it seems more than simply chronological or 
descriptive; it weighs and balances." — Frances A. Mathes, High School, 
Portsmouth, N.H. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



A HISTORY 

OF 

EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE, 

Being the History of English Poetry from its Beginaings 
to the Accession of King JEUied. 

BY THE 

REV. STOPFORD A. BROOKE. 

WITH MAPS. 

Large i2mo. Gilt top. $2.50. 



NOTICES. 



" I had been eagerly awaiting it, and find it on examination distinctly the 
best treatise on its subject." 

— PfiOF. Charles F. Richardson, Dartmouth College. 
" I know of no literary estimate of Anglo-Saxon poetry that in breadth 
of view and sympathetic appreciation can be compared with this." 

— Prof. W. E. Mead, Wesleyati University. 
" In this work we have the view of a real lover of literature, and we have 
its utterance in a diction graceful enough to make the reading an intellectual 
pleasure in itself." — The Christiaii Uyiion. 

" No other book exists in English from which a reader unacquainted 
with Anglo-Saxon may gain so vivid a sense of the Hterary quality of our 
earliest poetrj'." — T/ie Dial. 

" A .delightful exposition of the poetic spirit and achievement of the 
eighth century." — Chicago Tribune. 

" In Mr. Stopford Brooke's monumental work he strives with rare skill 
and insight to present our earliest national poetry as a living literature, and 
not as a mere material for research." — Lo7idon Tivies. 

" It is a monument of scholarship and learning, while it furnishes an 
authentic history of English literature at a period %vhen little before was 
known respecting it." — Public Opi7iion. 

" It is a comprehensive critical account of Anglo-Saxon poetry from its 
beginnings to the accession of King Alfred. A thorough knowledge of the 
Anglo- -Saxon language was needed by the man who undertook such a weighty 
enterprise, and this knowledge is possessed by Mr. Brooke in a degree 
probably unsurpassed by any living scholar." — Evening Bulletin. 



THE MACMILLAX COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEV^ YORK. 



A HISTORY 

OF 



ELIZABETHAN LITERATURE. 



BY 

GEORGE SAINTSBURY. 
Price, $i.oo, net. 



NOTICES. 



"Mr. Saintsbury has produced a most useful, first-hand survey — com- 
prehensive, compendious, and spirited — of that unique period of literary 
history when 'all the muses still were in their prime.' One knows not 
where else to look for so well-proportioned and well-ordered conspectus of 
the astonishingly varied and rich products of the turning English mind 
during the century that begins with Tortel's Miscellany and the birth of 
Bacon, and closes with the restoration." — The Dial. 

" Regarding Mr. Saintsbury's work we know not where else to find so 
compact, yet comprehensive, so judicious, weighty, and well written a 
review and critique of Elizabethan literature. But the analysis generally 
is eminently dLstinguished by insight, delicacy, and sound judgment, and 
that applies quite as much to the estimates of prose writers as to those of 
the poets and dramatists. ... A work which deserves to be be styled 
admirable." — N'ew York Tribune. 

" The work has been most judiciously done and in a literary style and 
perfection of which, alas, the present era has furnished too few examples." 

— Christian at Work. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



A HISTORY 

OF 

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
LITERATURE, 

(1660-1780.) 

BY 

EDMUND GOSSE, M.A., 

Clark Lecturer in English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge. 

Price, $i.oo, net. 

NOTICES. 

" Mr. Gosse's book is one for the student because of its fulness, its trust- 
worthiness, and its thorough soundness of criticisms; and one for the gen- 
eral reader because of its pleasantness and interest. It is a book, indeed, not 
easy to put down or to part with." 

— Oswald Crawfurd, in Lo7ido7i Academy. 

" Mr. Gosse has in a sense preempted the eighteenth century. He is 
the most obvious person to write the history of its literature, and this attrac- 
tive volume ought to be the final and standard work on his chosen theme." 

— T/ie Literary World. 

" We have never had a more useful record of this period." 

— Bost07i Eveiiing Traveler. 

" A brilli?nt addition to critical exposition. Written in a finished and 
elegant style, which gives enchantment even to the parts of the narrative of 
a biographical and statistical character, the work illumines obscure writings 
and literature and brings new interest to famous ones. One of its great 
excellences is the easy transition made from one stj'le of writing to another. 
The plan is distinct and well preserved, but the continuity between parts is 
so close that unity and coherence mark the work in a material degree." 

— Boston Journal, 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



A HISTORY 

OF 

NINETEENTH CENTURY 
LITERATURE. 

(1780-1895.) 

BY 

GEORGE SAINTSBURY, 

Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the 
University of Edinburgh. 

Price, $1.50. 



NOTICES. 

" Mr. George Saintsbury is by all odds the most versatile, sound, and 
entertaining of English literary critics, and his book is deserving of the 
widest reading. In his genial, yet just way of judging he carries us from 
Cowper to the writers of to-day, touching all with the nimbleness of his wit 
and the general unerring accuracy of his opinions." — Boston Traveler. 

" In the clear definition it gives to leading writers, its systematic group- 
ings, and its appreciation of main lines of development, it is wonderfully 
illuminating. The judgments passed upon noteworthy writers . . . afford 
in combination a body of criticism that the student of English literature 
. . . cannot hereafter venture to ignore." — The Beacon. 

" There can be no possible doubt that Mr. Saintsbury's work is one of 
the best critical manuals of the period which it covers." 

— Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 

" It is an admirable book." — IVew York Mail and Express. 

"Thorough is the term to apply to Mr. Saintsbury's book; there is the 
stamp of deliberate, scholarly research on every page. . . . Done so well 
as to make it extremely difficult to find fault, is the best proof of the excel- 
lence of his work." — Cotnmercial Advertiser. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEVT YORK. 



